The Girl the Doctor Needed
by afionna262
Summary: Victoria Jones is Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones's adopted daughter. All her life she's heard about the Doctor, and it's been her dream to meet him for a long time. One day, Victoria finds herself crossing paths with the Doctor and becomes his new companion. Read as she travels in the TARDIS while trying to find herself and figure out the greatest enigma she's ever known. Doctor/OC
1. New Earth

**Hello, everyone! It's taken me a year to get back into this story, so I've decided to update it. This isn't my first fanfiction, but it's the first I've actually felt proud of. I hope you all enjoy this story. I don't own _Doctor Who_ , but I do own Victoria Harkness Jones. I see Victoria being played by Sophie Turner, but you can picture anyone you please. Please comment and review, I'd really appreciate it!.**

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Family is the most important thing in my life. To me, a family doesn't just consist of the people that raised me, but also the people that were there for me when I needed them the most: my friends. Throughout my life, I've made many friends and many enemies, but the friends that I make always stand by me whenever I need them. A family doesn't just consist of parents and children, but also those who care for you and are willing to protect you no matter the length

When I was less than 1 year old, I was adopted by two men, Jack Harkness, and Ianto Jones. Growing up, I learned about aliens and their technology. After many years, aliens became a normal part of my life, almost as much as eating. Throughout those years, I met many wonderful people who became very much part of my ever-growing family.

Ianto and Jack worked in an organization called Torchwood, an organization dedicated to protecting the earth from alien attacks. When I turned ten, I was introduced to that team and became an honorary member. I spent a lot of time with Owen and Tosh, and they helped me figure out that I wanted to be a doctor.

Being an intelligent child, I skipped years in school, and by the time I was 16, I was accepted to the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine. It took me 8 years, and just a few months ago I received my MD in Medical Science.

However, a part of me always knew that I wanted to work with aliens, which all stemmed from the stories my father would tell me about a man he knew called the Doctor. He always told me of the adventures he went on with the Doctor, and he seemed to hit at me perhaps joining the Doctor in his travels.

When I was sixteen, my father gave me a vortex manipulator so I could go and visit his past and future self. He had programmed it so that I could receive messages from any Jack that wished to message me. Today happened to one of those times.

Today was Jack's birthday, and I had decided to come and visit him and the team. It took me two hours, but I eventually got there from my apartment at Cambridge. As I walking towards the Road Dahl Pass, my vortex manipulator made a slight beep, alerting me of an incoming message from my dad. All it told me was to go to a Ward 26 and the date and coordinates to follow.

With a sigh, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and quickly called Jack to wish him a happy birthday, as well as to apologize for not calling. We didn't talk for very long, and I was able to put my phone away and find a good hiding spot for where I could activate my vortex manipulator.

After typing in the coordinates, I slammed my hand down on the device before being swept up in bright light. It only took a moment before I was standing in front of a giant hospital. I looked around, taking in my surroundings, and I quickly figured out I was on New Earth. I spent a minute enjoying the nice breeze, as well as picking some apple grass and smelling it.

I looked at my watch and figured I should probably head up to Ward 26. I walked in and quickly noticed that the majority of nurses at the hospital were cat-like aliens. It didn't take me long to find the elevator, and once I got in, I announced the floor I wished to visit. As the elevator took off, I was disinfected and readied for the ward.

Walking out of the elevator, I was greeted by a nurse, who asked: "How can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm here to see the Face of Boe. Is he available?" I questioned with a small smile, and she nodded grimly. The look on her face told me that he wasn't doing very well.

"What is he in here for?" I asked as she walked me to my father.

"He's dying of old age, I'm afraid," she explained, and I couldn't help but lose my smile for a moment.

Before I could say anything else on the matter, she handed me over to a different nurse. "I'll be leaving you to the care of Nurse Hame from now on. My apologies, but I have other work that I must attend to."

Nurse Hame led me to my father in silence, and luckily he wasn't too far away.

"If you need me, Miss, I'll just be over there," she told me, pointing towards open area close by.

Once she was gone, I walked slowing to the glass jar that contained my father's head and rested my hand gently on it. Knowing that he didn't talk out loud, I quietly whispered in my head, hoping he was awake to be able to hear, a gentle hello.

I didn't get much farther into my talk when a hand tapped me on the shoulder. When I turned around, I took in the figure's appearance, and whoever it was, looked rather nice.

It was a man who looked to be thirty with wild, spiky brown hair and dark brown eyes. All across his face was freckled, and he had a grin on his face. He was also wearing a brown pinstriped suit with a funky tie, white converse, and a beige overcoat.

"Oh, hello. Can I help you?" I asked him, noting him giving me an odd look.

"Have I met you before?" he questioned, and I shook my head.

"I don't think I have," I explained, but he didn't seem to agree. He stared at me, examining my face, searching for the reason he knew me.

"Does World War two ring any bells?" he asked after a moment, and I couldn't help but frown. He really didn't seem very familiar.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about."

"Ah, well, perhaps you'll know in the future," he told me and I nodded slowly, feeling very confused.

"Was there something else you wanted to ask me?" I asked, having a feeling that wasn't what he was wondering.

"Oh yes. I was wondering how you knew the Face of Boe?" he questioned, and I gave a partial lie, saying he was an old friend.

"I wasn't aware he had many friends," the man stated, and I had to agree. My father really didn't have a lot of friends. Before he got together with Ianto, he was definitely a player though, sleeping with all kinds of different people and species.

"Yeah, he had more enemies than friends."

The man held out his hand and began introducing himself.

"I'm the Doctor. Who are you?" he asked and I could not help myself when my mouth fell open in shock.

My body went through shock when he introduced himself as I never expected my self to meet the Doctor.

"Well, I'm Dr. Victoria Jones."

He smiled at me as if he knew something I didn't.

"Would you mind joining me on an adventure today?" he offered, and I felt so incredibly happy. "I'd love to help!"

"So, that man over there had Petrifold Regression, which should be uncurable by the way," he told me and I nodded. "The man is now perfectly healthy and fine."

"So what you're trying to figure out is how the hospital was able to cure him?"

"Oooh, you're good. That's exactly what I'm looking for," he told me with a smile as we walked over to the now cured man.

"I didn't think I'd make it. It's that man again! He's my good luck charm. Come in. Don't be shy," the larger man encouraged us to approach.

However, another man standing near his bed, who I assumed was a bodyguard like person, did not feel as enthusiastic. "Any friendship expressed by the Duke of Manhattan does not constitute a form of a legal contract."

"Wince me up! Look at me. There's no sign of infection," the Duke exclaimed happily.

As a waiter came and asked if we'd like anything, the Doctor checked with the Duke to confirm that he had Petrioid Regression.

"That being the operative word. Past tense. Completely cured," he explained, causing me to shake my head. That really shouldn't be possible, and I seemed the Doctor agreed.

"That's impossible," I tried to reason as a nurse came over.

"Primitive species would accuse us of magic, but it's merely the tender application of science," the nurse explained, and I shook my head in disagreement.

"No, it's actually not possible. Sure, your technology could be advanced, but there's no honest way to cure a disease like that," I explained, and I could see the Doctor nodding out the corner of my eye.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you miss, but it's honestly just a simple remedy."

"What would that remedy be? Why have the cure for all these different diseases at one hospital," I questioned.

"I apologize, but that's confidential. I don't believe we've met. I'm Matron Casp," she introduced, which we did as well.

I had a feeling she wished to say more, but she was called to a different ward before she could.

"You were right to investigate this hospital. There is definitely something shady here," I told him, and he nodded, grabbing my hand and before pulling me out of the ward.

He pulled me over towards a row of floating tubes that contained different patients. We had broken off from one another and began looking at all the different tubes when a blonde girl walked in

"Ah, there you are. Come and look at this patient. Marconi's Disease. Should take years to recover. Two days. I've never seen anything like it. They've invented a cell washing cascade. It's amazing. Their medical science is way advanced. And this one," the Doctor spoke to the girl, but she wasn't listening. Instead, she was giving me a funny look.

After a moment, the Doctor realized the girl wasn't paying attention before introducing us. "Rose, meet Dr. Victoria Jones. Victoria, meet Rose Tyler."

I smiled and held out my hand for her to shake, and she grabbed it for barely a second before dropping it in disgust.

I looked over at the Doctor in concern for his friend, and he looked very worried too.

"Pallidome Pancrosis. Kills you in ten minutes, and he's fine. I need to find a terminal. I need to see how they're getting these cures. And if they have the best medicine in the world, why aren't they sharing it?" I questioned.

"I can't Adam and Eve it," Rose spoke, and I couldn't help but give her a weird look. I'd never heard anyone say that before.

"What's with this voice?" the Doctor asked and Rose shrugged.

"Just larking about. New Earth, new me," she explained.

"I can talk. New New Doctor," he said and she nodded.

"Mhm, aren't you just," she said flirtatiously because grabbing the Doctor by the lapels of his suit and into a passionate kiss.

From what I could tell from the Doctor in the last hour I knew him, they weren't very romantic, yet here she was, kissing him. And I couldn't stop myself when my mouth fell open shock.

The kiss lasted a few seconds before she pulled away with a smack and announced where the terminals were before walking towards them.

"Does this happen normally?" I questioned as the Doctor approached me from where Rose left him.

"No, I have no clue why she did that. Something's very wrong with Rose."

It didn't take us long to find Rose by an elevator and the terminal.

"Nope, nothing odd. Surgery, post-op, nano-dentistry. No sign of a shop. They should have a shop," the Doctor rambled on.

"No, it is missing something. When I was downstairs, those Nurse Cat Nuns were talking about intensive care. Where is it?" Rose questioned, causing the Doctor to smile lightly.

"You're right, well done," he praised her.

When we found intensive care, it looked very dark. Nothing like it should. "Intensive care. Certainly looks intensive," I spoke, walking into the room.

"Right, let's go," the Doctor grabbed my hand as he walking further into the room.

The walls were lined with green, glowing cells, and that's all there was to see.

As I walked over to one of the cells and opened it, and I felt sadness and horror wash over me. Inside was a very sick woman, who looked like she had all the diseases known.

I called out for the Doctor, continuing to look at the woman in sadness.

"What disease is that?" Rose asked, disgust obvious in her voice and face.

"It's every disease in the galaxy. They've been infected with everything," the Doctor explained. Rose looked horrified and took a step back, asking, "What about us? Are we safe?"

"The air is sterile. Don't touch them," the Doctor instructed as he closed the cell door.

"How many patients are there?" Rose asked.

"They aren't patients," I explained, catching on to what was happening.

"But they're sick."

"They are born sick. To find a cure for a disease, researchers and doctors experiment with different cures to see which will actually work. The nurses here have been using the people in the cells to find the cures to every disease in the galaxy," I told Rose, and she hummed in acknowledgment.

After that, the three of us didn't talk. We just looked around when a nurse came up to us.

"It's for the greater cause," she told us.

"Novice Hame. When you took your vows, did you agree to this?" the Doctor asked.

"The Sisterhood has sworn to help," Nurse Hame tried to tell us.

"What, by killing?" I demanded.

"They aren't real people. They are specially grown. They have no other purpose," she explained.

"What's the turnover, hmm? Thousand a day? Thousand the next? How many thousands? For how many years? How many!" the Doctor angrily demanded.

"Mankind needed us. They came to this planet with so many illnesses. We couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything. We tried using clone-meat and bio-cattle, but the results were too slow, so the Sisterhood grew its own flesh. That's all they are. Flesh."

"They are living and breathing people!" I exclaimed in anger.

"But think, there are humans out there that are happy and healthy because of us."

"Them living like this, them living is useless," the Doctor said.

"Who are you to decided that?" Nurse Hame questioned, and the Doctor walked forward.

"I'm the Doctor, and this is Dr. Victoria Jones and Rose Tyler," he told Nurse Hame.

"Just to confirm," Rose began from behind me. "None of the humans in the city know about this right?"

"We thought it was the best," Nurse Hame explained.

"Hold on. I can understand the bodies. I can understand your vows. One thing I can't understand. What have you done to Rose?" he asked dangerously, and I could see a fire in his eye as he stared at the nurse.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he tried to tell him, but that wasn't what the Doctor wanted to hear.

"And I'm being very, very calm. You want to be aware of that. Very, very calm. And the only reason I'm being calm is that the brain is a delicate thing. Whatever you've done to Rose's head. I want it reversed now," he demanded, but I could see in Nurse Hame's eyes that she had no clue what was going on.

"Doctor, she's telling the truth. You can see it in her eyes," I whispered and he nodded slowly.

"I'm perfectly fine," Rose tried to reassure.

"These people are dying, and Rose would have cared."

"Oh, all right, clever clogs. Smartypants. Lady-killer," Rose spoke, and I began backing up ever so slightly.

"What happened to you?" the Doctor asked.

"I knew something was going on in this hospital, but I needed this body and your mind to figure it out," Rose explained.

"Who are you?" I asked and Rose's eyes snapped up to me.

"I'm the last human," she purred, and I watched as the Doctor straightened up.

"Cassandra?"

"Wake up and smell the perfume," she hissed before spraying the Doctor with some sort of concoction that caused him to pass out.

I froze in shock at what had happened, causing me to miss my chance at running away from Cassandra.

"Now for you, Miss Smartypants," she said as she sprayed me as well.

As soon as I inhaled the mixture, I felt my body fall limp and hit the ground.

* * *

Upon waking up, I found myself staring into the Doctor's eyes. Before I could ask where we were, the wall behind me opened, causing me and the Doctor to fall out, him landing on top of me.

"Are you okay?" he asked and I nodded, feeling just a little disoriented.

"What've you done?" the Doctor asked Cassandra as he helped me up to my feet.

"Gave the system a shot of adrenaline, just to wake them up. See you!" Cassandra laughed as she and a blue alien ran away.

"Don't touch them! Whatever you do, don't touch them!" the Doctor yelled at Cassandra as we ran after her.

As we reached a flight of stairs, we saw a nurse touch one of the patients and die immediately.

"Oh my god," Cassandra muttered.

"What the hell have you done?" the Doctor questioned.

"It wasn't me!" she pleaded.

"One touch and you get every disease in the world, and I want that body safe, Cassandra. We've got to go down," the Doctor said and he began racing down the stairs.

"Run! Down! Go down!" I yelled at Cassandra and the blue alien.

The Doctor continued running when we reached the basement. Cassandra quickly saw the elevator and run up to it.

"No, the lifts have closed down. That's the quarantine. Nothing's moving," the Doctor explained as I looked around the room.

"This way!" Cassandra called, leading us down a hall. As we ran after her, the blue alien was cut off from us by the patients.

"Leave him!" Cassandra called out to us without looking back. "He's just a clone thing. He's only got half a life!"

"I'm sorry! We can't let her get away!" the Doctor called out to the blue alien before running after Cassandra.

We all continued running until we reached a dead end.

"We're trapped! What are we going to do?" Cassandra cried out in desperation.

"Well, for starters, you're going to leave that body," the Doctor demanded as he pointed at a machine in the corner. "That psychograph is banned on every civilized planet. You're compressing Rose to death!"

"But I have nowhere else to go. My original skin is dead!" she bit out, but the Doctor didn't care.

"Not my problem. You can float as atoms in the air. Now, get out. Giver her back to me," the Doctor demanded.

"You asked for it," she said before breathing out a pink light which went into the Doctor.

"Blimey, my head," Rose groaned, grabbing her head. "Where'd she'd go?"

"Oh my. This is different," Cassandra said, and I couldn't help but cringe at how she was making the Doctor speak.

"Get out of him," I demanded.

"Who are you?" Rose asked. "Dr. Victoria Jones. Nice to meet you?"

"Goodness me, I'm a man. Yum. So many parts and hardly ever used," Cassandra said slyly, running her hands over the Doctor's body. "Oh, oh! Two hearts! I'm beating out a samba," she said while shimming to the beat of the Doctor's heats.

"Cassandra," I warned.

"Ooh, he's slim, and a little bit foxy," Cassandra teased Rose. "You've thought so too. I've been inside your head. You've been looking. You like it."

Suddenly, the patients burst into the room.

"What do we do? What would he do? The Doctor, what the hell would he do?" Cassandra cried. I looked around for a moment before seeing a ladder behind us.

"Follow me!" I yelled, running towards the ladder.

"Move out of the way, gingy," Cassandra said, pushing me out of the way.

I climbed up behind her closely with Rose right on my heel.

"Use my body, Cassandra! Let the Doctor think of something!" I called out, and quickly the pink light came towards me and into my body.

" _Oh, this is different. Your mind is different than blondey, why is that?"_

It was an odd sensation, not being in control of my body.

" _Cassandra, why are you doing this? What happened?"_

Cassandra was moving my body quickly as the Doctor told her to stop and get out of my body.

" _Years ago, when the Earth was ending, I met the Doctor and Rose, but I was just a piece of skin. Let's just say that the adventure ended poorly, and I lost my skin. And you know what, I believe that face, Face of Boe, was there as well_. "

"Cassandra, get out of her! I mean it, get out right now!"

"Ugh, I'm so going to regret this," she said and jumped into one of the patients below Rose.

The Doctor quickly soniced the hatch above him and ushered us up.

"Glad to have you back," the Doctor smiled at Rose, but unfortunately, Cassandra jumped into Rose before he could close the door.

"That was your last chance," the Doctor growled, staring at Cassandra.

"Insider her head. They're so alone. They keep reaching out, just to hold us. All their lives and they've never been touched," Cassandra muttered, looking so lost. The Doctor held out his hand for her to grab onto, and pulled her up.

Together we ran down the hall until was saw one of the Duke's servants.

"We're safe. We're safe! We're clean! We're clean! Look!" the Doctor said and raised our hands to signify our cleanliness.

"If we'd been touched, we would be dead right now," I told him.

"There's nothing but silence from the other wards. I think we're the only ones left. And I've been trying to override the quarantine. If I can trip a signal to New New York, they can send a private executive squad," the man spoke and the Doctor shook his head.

"You can't do that. If they force entry, they'd break quarantine," he explained.

"I don't want to die here!" the man cried.

"We can't let a single particle of the diseases get out, not while there are ten million people in the city, not even five miles away. Now turn that alarm off!" the Doctor ordered.

"Not if it gets me out," the man told us, not budging.

"All right, fine. So I have to stop you lot as well. Suits me. Rose, Novice Hame, everyone! Excuse me, your Grace. Get me intravenous solutions for every single disease. Victoria, get me a cable. Move it!" he instructed us.

I found a cable quickly and gave it to the Doctor. "Alright, Victoria. I'm going to need your help."

Everyone worked quickly to get us the intravenous solutions as the Doctor and I stood by the lift. "The lifts aren't working," Cassandra told us.

"Not moving, there's a difference."

The Doctor then put his sonic between his teeth before running and jumping towards the cable holding the elevator.

"Alright, Victoria. It's your turn," he called out to me.

I took a deep breath before running forward and jumping as well. I landed on the Doctor's back with a grunt. "Sorry."

"Cassandra! Stay here and help seal the door!" the Doctor yelled before clamping on a piece of equipment to the cable.

"Going down!" the Doctor called before we started flying down the cable.

"This is amazing!" I laughed.

Soon enough, the Doctor pulled the break on the wheel and we came to a stop.

I helped the Doctor tip the drip bags into the disinfectant tank and empty them out.

I grabbed ahold of the lever and pulled it tight as the Doctor dropped out and into the lift.

After running out of the liquid, I hopped out and joined the Doctor in passing the cures around. It didn't take long until all the patients were cured and happy.

Once we were sure there were no sick patients left, we walked back up to see the Face of Boe. Walking into the room, I could see my dad was alive, and I felt so happy.

" _Hello, Sweetheart."_ Jack smiled.

" _Are you really dying?"_ I asked softly.

" _It is not my time yet, my dear. But soon,"_ he told me sadly. " _But don't be sad. Travel with the Doctor, follow your dream."_

" _I'll try, Dad. I'll see you soon. I love you,"_ I told him, placing my hand on his tank.

" _I love you, too,_ " he responded before disappearing, leaving my hand just floating in the air.

"That is enigmatic. That, that is, that is textbook enigmatic," the Doctor said, looking at the empty space where my dad used to be. "And now for you."

He began arguing with Cassandra over what could be done with her. She wanted to keep Rose's body, but obviously, the Doctor wouldn't let her.

"Mistress!" a voice called out. We all turned to the voice, and to our surprise, it was the blue alien from before.

"I kept myself alive for you, Mistress!"

"A body, and not just that, a volunteer," Cassandra smirked and walked over to him.

"You can't, Cassandra. You-" however, she transferred herself into the alien without much hesitation.

"Rose!" I rushed forward to help steady the blonde. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks for asking," she said with a smile.


	2. Tooth and Claw

**Hello everyone! I want to apologize to everyone for how long I've been gone. I am so glad I found my inspiration for this again. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Leave a comment and let me know what you think of the story!**

* * *

My father's description of the TARDIS always intrigued me: hundreds of rooms connected to winding corridors. Dazzling rooms with anything you could imagine. When he told me that all those amazing rooms were housed in a tiny police box, I shook my head calling him crazy.

"When you live a life full of aliens and planets, you learn that anything is possible," he told me, his eyes holding a slight glimmer.

My dad's description didn't do the TARDIS any justice.

While the Doctor was setting the controls to who knows what, he was also watching my reaction out of the corner of his eyes.

I was in absolute awe. The console was beautiful, glowing and humming. There was a lively feeling in the TARDIS, yet I could feel a slight darkness to the room.

After coming back to my senses, I walked over to the captain seat and sat down, watching the Doctor race around the console.

As the TARDIS took off to a different time, the groan of the TARDIS echoed through the air. When the TARDIS landed in the set time, the Doctor, Cassandra, and Rose exited the room.

Everything my dad had told me about the Doctor and his fantastic spaceship was true, and I just couldn't believe it.

My dad had told me about the Doctor as much as he could, saying that some of their adventures were meant to be heard at another time.

The Doctor, although he seemed young, was old, older than I could imagine. Because time was so wobbly, my dad never could tell me the Doctor's age.

Growing up, my dad told me about the Doctor's ten faces, yet my dad at another time would only mention nine. If I'm not mistaken, this was his tenth, so surely my dad would know this Doctor.

By the time I came to my senses, I saw the chocolate brown orbs that belonged to the Doctor watching me in concern.

"Victoria, are you alright? I know the TARDIS is a lot to take in," he told me, gently resting his hand on my shoulder in concern.

"Yes, she is a lot to take in. But she is absolutely beautiful," I told him, letting my eyes wander around the room in awe.

The Doctor began to smile and offered me his hand.

"If you'd like, I can give you a tour. I just sent Rose to rest up after today's events," the Doctor said with a small, happy gleam in his eyes.

"I would love that! However, I have to ask. How long are you going to let me travel with you, Doctor?" I asked, slightly shifting my feet.

"That's up to you, Victoria. I would happily allow you to travel with me and Rose, but I must warn you, there are many dangers to come if you continue," he spoke with such importance.

"I grew up surrounded by aliens and ideas that would otherwise be deemed insane. For as long as you'll have me, I would like to travel with you. I have a medical background and can be of some help if need be," I told him with a smile.

The Doctor's smile grew before he walked up to the console.

"Well then, Victoria, welcome aboard the TARDIS," he said with a bright smile.

"Tell me Victoria. What do you have to say about the TARDIS?" he asked as I moved closer to the console.

As I laid my hand gently on the console, I smiled and said "She's absolutely beautiful. I can't believe I'm seeing this with my own eyes."

To both mine and the Doctor's surprise, the console lit up beautifully at my touch. A warm feeling fluttered through my body the longer I touched the console.

"You're not surprised by her size?" he asked and I shook my head.

"My father told me many stories about the TARDIS. Growing up, I wished for nothing more than to see the beauty the TARDIS held," I spoke, looking curiously at the different controls.

"Tell me, Doctor, what is this language on the screen?" I asked, looking at the circular patterns and lines.

"It's the language of my people, Gallifreyan," he told me, his face becoming slightly solemn.

I stayed silent for a moment, watching Gallifreyan float across the screen.

"Could you tell me more?" I asked suddenly.

"More about what?" he questioned and I smiled.

"If you don't want to tell me anything, I won't pry, but I would love to hear stories about Time Lords and Gallifrey and even yourself if you'll tell," I said with a small smile.

We shared a glance, his stare hard and intense, and I realized he was thinking if I was worthy of his story.

"Gallifrey was nothing like you've ever seen before. The sky was burnt orange, and there were two large moons. There were thousands of Gallifreyans, most all high and mighty," the Doctor explained slowly as we walked to the library, where I spent hours upon hours listening to the Doctor talked of his home planet.

* * *

The adventures the Doctor took me on were amazing. After seeing the birth of a star, meeting Marie Antoinette, and joining a Victorian tea party, the Doctor decided to let Rose choose an adventure.

Rose was very kind to me, yet she held me at an arms reach. The first thing I noticed from Rose was how her eyes always found the Doctor, even when his eyes didn't find her.

The Doctor and I became close friends very quickly, and she disliked that greatly. But even her jealousy wasn't enough to outshine how incredible she was. When the Doctor was busy, she would show me around the TARDIS. In spite of her jealousy, we became quick friends.

For her adventure, Rose chose for us to go to a concert in the 1970s. As the Doctor fiddled with the TARDIS, Rose and I picked our outfits in the wardrobe.

I chose a similar outfit to Roses, who wore a denim overall skirt overtop of a t-shirt with black tights and boots. I chose denim overall shorts with a red and white striped long sleeve shirt underneath. I put on black tights as well and put on a pair of knee-high boots.

"How do I look?" I asked after pulling part of my hair up into a bun.

"You look very... grrrr," Rose purred. "You look ready to go to a concert and steal the show," Rose complimented and I smiled.

"You look really nice too. This concert is going to be a lot of fun," I said as we walked to the concert room.

"Doctor!" I called out as we walked into the room.

"What do you think of our outfits? Will they do?" Rose asked as she nodded towards me.

"In the late 1970s? You'd be better off in a bin bag. Hold on, listen to this," the Doctor said as he slid a CD into the console.

"Ian Dury and the Blockheads. Number one in 1979," the Doctor said over the music.

"Ooh, I love 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick'," I said, humming along to the song happily.

"You're both punks," Rose laughed.

"It's good to be a lunatic," the Doctor responded.

"You said you wanted a concert, Rose, perhaps you'd like to see him?"

After sharing a look with me, Rose turned to the Doctor and smiled.

"Alrighty! Hold on tight!" the Doctor yelled over the music.

Rose and I grabbed onto the railing as the Doctor banged the rhythm of the song on the console.

"Stop!" I yelped, falling against the railing.

The TARDIS came to a quick stop, causing the three of us to fly to the floor.

I groaned as I sat up on the grating.

"Did you not take a driving test?" I asked, rubbing my shoulder lightly.

"No, I did. I just failed it," the Doctor said as a passing note.

"So! 1979. It was a hell of a year. China invades Vietnam. The Muppet Movie. Margaret Thatcher. Skylab falls to Earth, with a little help from me. Nearly took off my thumb," the Doctor said as we walked to the door.

"And I like my thumb. I need my thumb. And I'm very attached to - " the sound of rifles being cocked filled the air. "-my thumb."

Surrounding us were a group of redcoats. The officer in charge quickly came over on a black horse.

"1879. Same difference," the Doctor said with his hands in his pockets.

The officer quickly began speaking. "You will explain the nature of your presence as well as the nakedness of these girls."

"Are we in Scotland?" the Doctor asked, quickly speaking in a Scottish accent.

"How can you be ignorant of that?" the man asked.

"Oh, I'm... I'm dazed and confused. I've been chasing these wee naked child over hill and over dale. Isn't that right, ya timorous beasties?" the Doctor asked and I nodded.

"Ay, that's right. We were traveling for days before meeting him," I told the man in a Scottish accident.

Turning to the Doctor, the leader asked for the Doctor's identity.

"I'm Doctor James McCrimmon, from the township of Balamory. I have my credentials, if I may," the Doctor said, nodding to his pockets.

After approval, the Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out his psychic paper.

"As you can see, a Doctorate from the University of Edinburgh. I trained under Doctor Bell himself," the Doctor said, nodding to his "credentials".

"Let them approach," an older woman told the leader.

Worry became present on the leaders face. "I don't think that is wise, ma'am," he told the woman.

"Let them approach," the woman insisted.

Turning to the three of us, the leader began speaking. "You will approach the carriage, and show all due deference."

As the man spoke, the curtain of the carriage was moved to show an older woman dressed in an elegant dress.

"Victoria, Rose, might I introduce her Majesty Queen Victoria. Empress of India and Defender of the Faith," the Doctor introduced.

I immediately curtseyed towards the Queen once I heard her name.

"Her Majesty, I'm Victoria Jones. I apologize for my nakedness," I told her, curtseying until I received a nod from her to release my position.

"Rose Tyler, ma'am. And my apologies for my nakedness," Rose curtseyed lightly.

"I've had five daughters. It's nothing to me," she told us before looking at the Doctor. "But you, Doctor. Show me these credentials."

The Doctor in return handed her his psychic paper.

"Why didn't you say so immediately? It states clearly here that you have been appointed by the Lord Provost as my Protector," Queen Victoria said after reading the Doctor's "credentials".

The Doctor learned of why the Queen needed his assistance while Rose and I stood quietly.

Soon, the Queen called for the carriage to continue moving. As it moved, the Doctor, Rose, and I followed

"It's funny though because you say assassination and you just think of Kennedy and stuff. Not her," Rose told us.

"1879? She's had, oh, six attempts on her life? And I'll tell you something else. We just met Queen Victoria!" the Doctor exclaimed, a smile appearing on his face.

"I know!" I said happily, smiling along with the Doctor.

"What a laugh," the Doctor smiled.

"She was just sitting there!" Rose added with a laugh.

"Like a stamp," the Doctor said.

"I want to say we are not amused. I bet you five quid I can make her say it," Rose bet and I nodded.

"I want to be a part of that," I added as the Doctor shook his head.

"If I did that, I'd be abusing my privileges of a time traveler," the Doctor said, but Rose was quick to rebut. "Ten quid?"

"Done," he said with a simple of his head.

I watched in awe as we approached Queen Victoria's mansion. My eyes immediately found an astrological observatory and its sheer beauty.

I walked next to the Doctor as we approached the Queen's stopped carriage.

A young man walked out of the front door and towards where the Queen was standing.

"Your Majesty," he spoke, bowing slightly to her.

"Sir Robert. My apologies for the emergency. And how is Lady Isobel?" the Queen asked.

With slight hesitation, Robert responded " She's indisposed, I'm afraid. She's gone to Edinburgh for the season. And she's taken the cook with her. The kitchens are barely stocked. I wouldn't blame Your Majesty if you wanted to ride on."

"Oh, not at all. I've had quite enough carriage exercise. And this is charming, if rustic. It's my first visit to this house. My late husband spoke of it often. The Torchwood Estate. Now, shall we go inside? And please excuse the naked girls," the Queen said, gesturing towards Rose and me.

"Sorry," Rose and I apologize.

"They're feral children. I bought them for sixpence in old London Town. It's was them or the Elephant Man, so," the Doctor said, and I sent him a narrow glance. The Doctor in return sent a semi-apologetic glance my way.

"He thinks he funny, but I'm so not amused. What do you think, Ma'am?" Rose asked the Queen.

The Queen, disinterested, said "It hardly matters. Shall we proceed?"

The Queen, giving us one more glance before going inside. The Queen's soldiers were busy taking a small locked chest out of the carriage.

"Makerson and Ramsey, you will escort the property. Hurry up," the leader of the soldiers told two men carrying the chest.

"What's in there, then?" the Doctor asked the leader.

"Property of the Crown. You will dismiss any further thoughts, sir. The rest of you go to the rear of the house. Assume your designated positions," the man said, turning away from the three of us.

"Let's go," the Doctor said before leading Rose and I up to the front door.

We followed the Queen and Robert to the observatory which housed a grand bronze telescope.

"Wow, it's beautiful," I breathed softly.

"This, I take it, is the famous Endeavor," the Queen spoke.

"All my father's work. Built by hand in his final years. Became something of an obsession. He spent his money on this rather than caring for the house or himself," Robert explained as we walked closer to examine it.

"I wish I'd met him. That thing's beautiful. Can I?" the Doctor asked, reaching for the telescope.

"Help yourself," Robert nodded.

"Do you know what he modeled it on?" I asked, looking closer myself.

"I know nothing about it. To be honest, most of us thought him a little, shall we say, eccentric. I wish now I'd spent more time with him and listened to his stories," Robert said solemnly.

"It's a bit rubbish. How many prisms has it got? Way too many. The magnification's gone right over the top. That's stupid kind of - " the Doctor said before turning to Rose. "Am I being rude again?"

"Yep."

Turning back to the telescope, the Doctor complimented its beauty.

"And the imagination of it should be applauded," Queen Victoria noted.

"Mmm. Thought you might disapprove, Your Majesty. Stargazing. Isn't that a bit fanciful? You could easily not be amused, or something? No?" Rose asked from behind the Doctor, a small smile on her face.

"This device surveys the infinite work of God. What could be finer? Sir Robert's father was an example to us all. A polymath, steeped in astronomy and sciences, yet equally well versed in folklore and fairytales," the Queen explained to Rose, taking her words very seriously.

"Stars and magic. I like him more and more," the Doctor said and I nodded.

"Oh, my late husband enjoyed his company. Prince Albert himself was acquainted with many rural superstitions, coming as he did from Saxe Coburg," the Queen spoke.

"That's Bavaria."

"When Albert was told about your local wolf, he was transported," the Queen explained.

The Doctor walked closer to the Queen and asked: "So, what's this wolf, then?"

"It's just a story," Robert said.

"Then tell it," I said with a smile, hoping to urge him on.

"It's said that-" Robert started when another man in the room began talking.

"Excuse me, sir. Perhaps her Majesty's party could repair to their rooms. It's almost dark," he interrupted.

Robert stumbled over his words before relaying his agreement.

"And then supper. And could we find some clothes for Miss Tyler and Miss Jones? I'm tired of their nakedness," the Queen spoke, looking at me and Rose.

"It's not amusing is it?" Rose asked her and I mentally facepalmed.

"Sir Robert, your wife must have left some clothes. See to it. We shall dine at seven, and talk some more of this wolf. After all, there is a full moon tonight," the Queen spoke with finality before dismissing us to our rooms.

Rose and I were taken to a room to change into.

"Ooh, Rose. What do you think of this one?" I asked, putting a nice grey dress up to my body.

After receiving Rose's approval, she searched through the wardrobe and pulled out a similar dress in blue. Rose then opened another wardrobe door revealing a tied up housemaid.

"Oh my god," I muttered as I crouched down close to her.

I helped her up and onto the bed and sat down next to her. I laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay? What happened?" I asked softly, watching as her body shook with fear.

"They came through the house. The incitements, they took the Steward and the Master. And my Lady," she explained quietly as her eyes stayed trained on the bedroom door.

Room reached over and squeezed her hand.

"We have a friend," I said, nodding towards Rose. "His name is the Doctor. He can help us- he'll tell us what to do. You need to come with us."

"Oh, but I can't, Miss."

"What's your name?" Rose asked, causing the woman to look at her.

"Flora."

"Flora, we'll be safe. There are more people downstairs - soldiers and everything, and they can help us. I promise. Come on. Okay? Come on," Rose said as we stood us. As Rose looked out into the hallway, I reached out, offering my hand to Flora.

After checking to see if the coast is clear, we all walked down the hallway. As we reached a bend in the hallway, we saw the body of an unconscious guard.

"Oh Miss, I did warn you," Flora breathed.

As I stayed with Flora, Rose knelt down next to the body and checked his pulse.

"He's not dead... I don't think - he must be drugged or something," she said after a moment.

Before I could say anything else, a hand covered my mouth and another wrapped around my waist, pulling me backward.

I tried to call for Rose, but the hand stifled any sound that would reach her. I watched helplessly as a man grabbed her, pulling her away from the body.

I gave up trying to fight the man holding me as he dragged me to the cellar. Rose and I were chained to the wall next to a young woman, presumably a noble, and a small group of her staff.

"Don't make a sound. They said if we scream or shout, then he will slaughter us," the noblewoman whispered, nodding towards a cage.

In the cage was a young man curled into a ball. His face was pointed towards us, but it seemed as though he was sleeping.

"But... he's in a cage. He's a prisoner. He's the same as us," Rose spoke quietly and I shook my head lightly. He was in a cage and that had to mean something.

"He's nothing like us. That creature is not mortal," the woman spoke, fear resonating in her voice.

The man raised his head slowly before opening his eyes. His eyes were a like a void, black and dangerous.

He turned his head slightly before resting his sights on me it seemed. I stared back as my heart raced faster. I had to be strong for Rose, for the other two women in the room.

He held my stare for a minute longer before returning to his resting position.

Rose stood us slowly, her chains rattling lightly, causing me to wince. She began inching closer to the man, only stopping when her chains halted her movement. She gently kneeled down near the man's cage.

"Who are you?" Rose questioned.

"Don't enrage him," the Steward told her quietly from the back of the room.

"Where are you from? You're not from Earth. What planet are you from?" Rose asked and the man smirked lightly.

"Ohhh... intelligence..."

"Where were you born?"

"This body... ten miles away... a weakling, heartsick boy. Stolen away at night by the brethren from my cultivation. I carved out his soul and sat in his heart."

"All right... so the body's human... but what about you? The thing inside?" Rose inquired.

"So far from home," the man replied.

"If you wanna get back home, we can help," Rose offered.

"Why would I leave this place? A world of industry, of workforce and warfare. I could turn it to such purpose."

Getting up, I walked closer to Rose. "How would you do that?" I asked.

"I would migrate to the Holy Monarch," the man said, turning his gaze to me.

The reasonable side of me wanted to believe that the man was just insane, that there was something wrong with him. But the side of me that grew up with aliens and monsters knew that had to be wrong.

"You mean Queen Victoria?" Rose asked.

"With one bite, I would pass into her blood. And then it begins. The Empire of the Wolf! So many questions..." the man smiled, a dangerous glint appearing in his eyes as he lunged at Rose from his cage.

"Werewolf. No, that's not possible. He has to be some sort of alien," I muttered in horror causing the man to snap his head towards me.

"Ooh, so smart. You're an intelligent one, aren't you? More intelligent than you think you are. I can see it in your eyes. You know things that you shouldn't and it scares you," the man smiled wickedly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I told him and his grin got bigger.

"You'll learn soon enough."

Rose opened her mouth to speak when the cellar door burst open, a stream of moonlight hitting the man directly.

"Moonlight."

I cursed quietly, backing up towards the wall, watching as everyone began shifting uncomfortably.

The man shed his cloak before grasping the bars of his cage.

"All of you! Stop looking at it! Flora, don't look - listen to me. Grab hold of the chain and pull!" Rose urged and I quickly grabbed the chain.

"Please, you have to pull!" I pleaded to the group of prisoners.

The noblewoman stood frozen as the man, or wolf at this point began growling.

"I said pull! Stop your whining and listen to me! All of you! And that means you, your Ladyship! Now come on - pull!" Rose called out to the woman.

Soon everyone was standing, pulling the chain away from the wall.

I watched in horror as the man continued his transformation into a werewolf. His screams of pain echoed through the room, eventually turning into terrifying growls.

Rose took charge, calling out when to pull on the chain. As we got closer to ripping the chain from the wall, the man completely changed into a werewolf.

"Pull!" Rose and I called together.

With one last tug, the chain flew from the wall, freeing all of us.

A loud thump sounded through the air as the Doctor kicked down the other door to the cellar.

"Where the hell have you been?" Rose demanded angrily, yet the Doctor ignored her.

The Doctor stared at the wolf with a look of awe. "Oh, that's beautiful," he said as Robert called out to his wife: "Get out!"

Everyone raced to the doors in hopes of escaping the terrifying beast as he broke the bars of his cage, bending them terribly.

I stopped just short of the door to watch the werewolf in fear and also amazement as I noticed the Doctor do it as well.

The wolf grabbed the top of the cage, throwing it at the Doctor. The Doctor evaded the cage, ducking as he ran towards the door. As he ran past me, he grabbed my hand, pulling me into the hallway.

He reached into his pocket and quickly soniced the door, locking the wolf in the cellar. The wolf howled loudly, startling Rose and I.

The Doctor lead us deeper into the house, the weapons room to be specific, and helped us get out chains off.

"It could be any form of light modulated species triggered by specific wavelengths - did it say what it wanted?" the Doctor asked.

"The Queen, the Crown, the throne - you name it," Rose told him when a thumping sounded from the cellar. With a frown, the Doctor went to investigate the noise. He was only gone for a moment before he raced back into the room.

He grabbed Rose and I's hands before pulling us behind a line of guards that were armed with guns.

"Fire!" the Steward ordered.

Even as the bullets hit the wolf, all it seemed to do was slow it down some.

"Fire!" the Steward ordered again.

The sound of bullets ricocheted off the walls yet again as the soldiers shot at the wolf again.

The room began to fill with the smoke of the guns, making it nearly impossible to see.

"All right, you men, we should retreat upstairs, come with me," the Doctor said after checking for the wolf.

"I'll not retreat. The battle's done. There's no creature on God's Earth that could survive such an assault," the Steward said, refusing to leave the room.

"I'm telling you, come upstairs!" the Doctor ordered angrily.

"And I'm telling you, sir, that I will sleep well tonight with that thing's hide upon my wall," the Steward told the Doctor as he looked down the hallway, checking for the wolf.

The Steward walked back towards us, a slight smirk present on his face. "Must've crawled away to die-" the man said just as he got pulled through the ceiling by the wolf.

"Oh my god," I muttered in horror before feeling a hand squeeze my hand.

I looked over to see that the Doctor had been the one to comfort me.

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do!" the Doctor yelled.

Grabbing Rose with his free hand, we managed to escape the room before the wolf got us. I looked behind me to see that Robert had caught up to us, barely escaping the werewolf as well.

The Doctor released Rose and I before sonicing the door closed.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" Robert called as he raced deeper into the room.

Rose and I ran after him to see the Queen walking down a flight of stairs towards Robert.

"Sir Robert! What's happening?" the Queen questioned. "I heard such terrible noises."

"Your Majesty - we've got to get out. But what of Father Angelo? Is he still here?"

"Captain Reynolds disposed of him," the Queen answered.

The Doctor came running towards us from who knows where. "The front door's no good, it's been boarded shut. Pardon me, Your Majesty - you'll have to leg it out of a window," he said, gesturing towards a door.

We all ran into the room and Robert walked up to the window.

"Excuse my manners, Ma'am, but I shall go first, the better to assist Her Majesty's egress," Robert said to the Queen.

"A noble sentiment, my Sir Walter Raleigh," the Queen said with a nodded.

"Yeah, we get it. If we could please hurry up," I spoke with a rush, glaring slightly at them.

Robert climbed onto the window sill but immediately jumped out of the wall as he almost got shot.

"I reckon the monkey boys want us to stay inside," the Doctor said, still slightly in shock.

"Do they know who I am?" the Queen asked sharply, as though to hide her fear.

"Yeah, that's why they want ya. The wolf's lined you up for a... a biting," Rose answered and the Queen was quick to dismiss that thought.

"Now, stop this talk. There can't be an actual wolf," the Queen said just as the wolf himself howled.

I raced after the Doctor as he fled the room. Outside the room, the wolf was banging on a door.

"Doctor, what do we do?" I asked, looking over at him.

"We run!" the Doctor said.

"Is that it?" Rose asked and the Doctor sent her a look.

"You got any silver bullets?" the Doctor asked and Rose shook her head.

"Not on me!"

"There we are then, we run. Your Majesty, as a Doctor, I recommend a vigorous jog," the Doctor said before jogging in place. "Good for the health," he said as he grabbed the Queen's hand, pulling her away from the room.

Rose and I were hot on the Doctor's heels as we ran up the grand staircase. I nearly tripped over my feet after having looked behind to see the wolf right behind us.

As we ran down a hallway, Captain Reynolds ran out with a gun. He stood with it aimed for a moment before shooting, slowing the wolf down some.

"I'll take this position and hold it. You keep moving, for God's sake! Your Majesty - I went to look for the property, it was taken. The chest was empty," Captain Reynolds told the Queen.

"I have it. It's safe," she assured him.

"Then remove yourself, Ma'am. Doctor, you stand as Her Majesty's Protector. And you, Sir Robert - you're a traitor to the crown," Captian Reynolds said as he raised his gun towards the wolf yet again.

"Bullets can't stop it," I told him and he shook his head.

"It will buy you some time."

"Thank you," I told him before running after Rose and the Doctor. As I reached the library, where we seemed to have taken shelter, I watched in horror as Captian Reynolds was torn to shreds by the wolf.

"Victoria!" the Doctor called, yanking me into the room before slamming the door shut, hopefully keeping the wolf out.

I took a second to see what we were doing before running around the room to collect chairs to barricade the door.

"Be quiet for a second!" the Doctor called out, making everyone stop immediately.

The wolf howled, alerting the Doctor. "It's stopped," the Doctor told us.

He quickly stepped onto a chair and leaned his ear against the door. "It's gone," he said, stepping down.

I look over to see the Queen shaking horribly. I walk over and grabbed her hand.

"Are you okay, Ma'am?" I asked and she shook her head.

"I'm sorry," I told her and she smiled a sad, small smile at me before patting my hand.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. It's all my fault. I should've sent you away. I tried to suggest something was wrong, I... thought you might notice. Did you think there was nothing strange about my household staff?" Robert explained to the Queen and I shook my head.

"Well, they were bald, athletic... your wife's away, I just thought you were happy," the Doctor said.

"I'll tell you what though, Ma'am, I bet you're not amused now," Rose said and I glared at her.

"Do you think this is funny?" the Queen requested angrily.

I shook my head in dissapointment and shame. People just gave their lives to save us, and the Doctor and Rose were making jokes about it.

"No, Ma'am, I'm sorry," Rose apolozied quietly.

"What, exactly, I pray someone please, what exactly is that creature?" the Queen asked.

"You'd call it a werewolf, but technically it's a more of a lupine wavelength haemovariform," the Doctor explained while scratching his head.

"And should I trust you, sir? You who change your voice so easily? What happened to your accent? You as well?" the Queen asked the Doctor and I.

"Oh... right, sorry-" the Doctor apologized and I bowed my head.

"I'll not have it. No, sir - not you... not that thing... none of it. This is not my world," the Queen told the Doctor.

I continued to stand with the Queen as the Doctor investigated the room.

"You remind me of my daughter," the Queen said and I turned to look at her with wide eyes.

"You want to help those that are hurt, those in need. I can see it in your eyes. It pains you to see others hurt so easily. My daughter Alice was much like that," she told me and I began to tear up a little.

"I don't see that look often. You know so much but have seen too little. I hope that you are able to help those in need for many years to come," Queen Victoria said with a small smile, patting my hand once again.

"Thank you," I said with a small smile.

The Queen gave me a slight nod, signaling the end of the conversation.

"Victoria, come over here!" the Doctor called.

I raced over to see Robert, the Doctor, and Rose leaning over a book. I looked closely at the book to see it open to a page about shooting stars.

"'In the year of our Lord, 1540, under the reign of King James the Fifth, an almighty fire did burn in the pit." That's the Glen of Saint Catherine just by the Monastery,'" Robert read.

"But that's over three hundred years ago. What's it been waiting for?" I asked, shaking my head.

"Maybe just a single cell survived. Adapting slowly down the generations. It survived through the humans. Host after host after host," the Doctor explained.

"But why does it want the throne?" Robert asked, looking up at the Doctor.

"That's what it wants. It said so, the... the Empire of the Wolf," Rose answered.

"Imagine it... the Victorian Age accelerated... starships and missiles fueled by coal and driven by steam... leaving history devastated in its wake..." the Doctor spoke with a hard tone.

"Sir Robert!" the Queen called out.

"If I am to die here..." the Queen began.

"Don't say that Your Majesty," Robert told the Queen, cutting her off.

"I would destroy myself rather than let that creature infect me. But that's no matter. I ask only that you find some place of safekeeping for something far older and more precious than myself," the Queen spoke as she reached into her purse.

"Hardly the time to worry about your valuables," the Doctor called out to her and I sent him a look.

"Thank you for your opinion. But there is nothing more valuable than this," the Queen told him and I looked down at her hand.

In her hand was a beautiful diamond.

"Is that the Koh-I-Noor?" Rose asked in awe.

"Oh, yes... the greatest diamond in the world," the Doctor said with a smile.

"Given to me as the spoils of war. Perhaps its legend is now coming true. It is said that whoever owns it must surely die."

"Well, that's true of anything if you own it long enough. Can I...?" the Doctor asked, holding his hands out.

Queen Victoria reached out and put the diamond in the Doctor's hands.

"That is so beautiful," I muttered in awe.

"How much is it worth?" Rose asked and the Doctor looked towards her.

"They say... the wages of the entire planet for a whole week."

"Good job my mum's not here. She'd be fighting the wolf off with her bare hands for that thing," Rose said.

"And she'd win," the Doctor said with a laugh.

"Where is the wolf? I don't trust this silence," Robert asked out loud.

"Why do you travel with it?" the Doctor asked.

"My annual pilgrimage. I'm taking it to Helier and Carew. The Royal Jewellers at Hazelhead. The stone needs recutting," the Queen explained.

"Oh, but it's perfect," the Doctor breathed.

"My late husband never thought so," Queen Victoria explained.

"Now, there's a fact - Prince Albert kept on having the Koh-I-Noor cut-down. It used to be forty percent bigger than this. But he was never happy. Kept on cutting and cutting," the Doctor said as he took his glasses off.

"He always said... the shine was not quite right. But he died with it still unfinished."

"Unfinished... oh, yes!" the Doctor exclaimed, throwing the diamond back to the Queen.

"There's a lot of unfinished business in this house. His father's research - your husband, Ma'am, he came here and he sought the perfect diamond - hold on, hold on - all these separate things, they're not separate at all, they're connected! Oh, my head, my head! What if - this house, it's a trap for you - is that right, Ma'am?" the Doctor rambled on, finally getting to his point.

"Obviously."

"At least, that's what the wolf intended. But! What if there's a trap inside the trap?" the Doctor said and I nodded, finally catching on.

"Explain yourself, Doctor," the Queen said.

"What if his father and your husband weren't just telling each other stories. They dared to imagine all this was true. And they planned against it. Laying the real trap, not for you... but for the wolf," I answered, looking at the Queen just as plaster fell from the ceiling.

We all looked up to see the wolf walking on the glass dome above our head.

"Everyone out!" I yelled, ushering everyone out as the glass started to crack.

We managed to break through our barricade just as the ceiling broke under the wolf.

"We need to get to the observatory!" I yelled, running next to the Doctor.

Behind me, Rose stopped to watch the wolf when Lady Isobel, the noblewoman, threw a pan of liquid at the wolf.

"Good shot!" the Doctor called.

"It was mistletoe!"

After a moment of Isobel and Robert kissing and saying their goodbyes, Robert lead us to the observatory.

"No mistletoe on these doors, your father wanted the wolf to get inside! Get inside I just need time! Is there any way of barricading this?" the Doctor asked and I looked around for something that could help.

"Just do your work and I'll defend it," Robert said and I walked up to him.

"Thank you. I hope you find peace after this, " I whispered to him, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Ma'am," he said with a small smile.

"If we could bind them shut with rope or something!" the Doctor continued to speak, having ignored Robert's comment.

"I said I'd find you time, sir," he said, putting on a brave face.

"Good luck," I whispered before running into the observatory.

"Now get inside," Robert ordered the Doctor lightly.

After running in, he looked over his shoulder and said: "Good man."

I walked over to the Queen and asked for the diamond.

"For what purpose?" she asked.

"The purpose it was designed for."

"Victoria! Rose!" the Doctor called.

"Lift it, come on."

"Is this the right time for stargazing?" Rose asked sarcastically and I nodded.

"Yes."

"You said this thing doesn't work!" Rose said, looking at the telescope.

"It doesn't work as a telescope because that's not what it is! It's a light chamber! It magnifies the light rays like a weapon. We've just got to power it up!" I explained as the Doctor worked on getting the telescope to work.

"But there's no electricity," she stated.

"Moonlight! But it needs moonlight! It's made by moonlight!" she realized.

"You're seventy percent water but you can still drown. Come on!" the Doctor said as we moved it yet again, hoping to align it.

As the light chamber became aligned, the moonlight bounced off the prisms. The light flew from the prisms in many different directions as the wolf broke down the door.

I ran quickly towards the telescope and shoved the diamond into the correct slot. As the light hit the diamond, a light ray hit the wolf. The wolf was suddenly lifted into the air by the moonlight.

"Make it brighter. Let me go," the wolf said having reverted back to human form.

The Doctor walked forward and hit a switch on the light chamber. With a final howl, the creature vanished from the air, now free from the moon.

I looked around and saw the Queen holding her wrist.

"Did it bite you?" I asked and she shook her head.

"No... it's a scratch, she insisted.

"If that thing bit you," the Doctor added.

"It was a splinter of wood when the door came apart," the Queen declared and I nodded, knowing she wouldn't let up.

"Let me see," the Doctor said, reaching for her arm.

She jerked her arm away from him, insisting she was okay.

"Now that this is over, I think it is time for you three to head to your rooms," the Queen said before walking out of the room.

"I agree," Rose said, following the Queen out of the room.

The Doctor and I stood silently before the Doctor turned towards me.

"Are you okay?" he asked and I shook my head.

"Multiple people gave their lives for us and you and Rose made jokes and laughed. I'm not okay with that. I help people when they need it. I help put people back together. It was wrong to joke about their deaths," I told him as I leaned on a bookshelf, wrapping my arms around my waist tightly for comfort.

"I don't have an excuse for how I acted. I shouldn't have acted like that, and I know better. I been through experiences like this before and never has it been okay," the Doctor told me and I nodded.

We stayed silent for another minute before the Doctor started talking again.

"My last regeneration was born after a war, and some of that was given to me. I will always have a bit of that in me, and I always have. I need to work on it. If you see me doing something that seems wrong, talk to me about it," the Doctor told me.

"Okay," I said, walking to the door. Just as I left the room, I stopped and looked over my shoulder.

"Hey Doctor, you know you owe me more stories when we get back to the TARDIS," I called with a smile.

"Of course."

* * *

The Doctor and Rose knelt down before the Queen who held a sword.

"By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee: Sir Doctor of TARDIS," she spoke with power as she tapped each of the Doctor's shoulders.

"By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee: Dame Rose of the Powell Estate," the Queen announced, tapping Rose's shoulders as well.

"You may stand," she told them.

"Miss Victoria Jones, would you please kneel," the Queen said, and I nodded, kneeling before her.

"By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee: Lady Victoria of TARDIS," she said, tapping each shoulder with her sword. "You are special, don't lose that spark. You may stand," she told me and I nodded.

"Your Majesty, you said last night about receiving a message from the great beyond; I think your husband cut that diamond to save your life. He's protecting you even now Ma'am, even from beyond the grave," the Doctor spoke after a moment.

"Indeed. Then you may think on this, also: that I am not amused," the Queen said, causing the Doctor to groan and Rose and I to smile slightly.

"Not remotely amused."

"And henceforth... I banish you," she said.

"I rewarded you, Sir Doctor. And now you are exiled from this empire, never to return. I don't know what you are, the three of you, or where you're from, but I know that you consort with stars - and magic - and think it fun. But your world is steeped in terror and blasphemy and death and I will not allow it! You will leave this shores and you will reflect, I hope, on how you managed to stray so far from all that is good. And how much longer you will survive this... terrible life," the Queen said angrily.

"You, my dear, have much potential. Continue aiding those in need and seek help when you need it yourself. Don't neglect yourself for others," she told me before turning away.

"Now, leave my world. And never return," she ordered angrily.

* * *

Long after Rose and I had gone to our rooms, I sat on my bed staring at the ceiling.

I reached across my bed and grabbed my phone. I scrolled through my contacts until I reached my father's contact.

After a moment of hesitation, I pressed the button and put the phone up to my ear. I smiled as it only took a few rings for him to pick up.

"Hey, Sweetheart. What do I owe the pleasure?" he asked.

"It happened," I breathed lightly.

"What happened?" my dad asked, sounding slightly confused.

"I met him, dad. I actually did it," I said with a little laugh.

"I knew you would someday, Sweetheart."

"It's all thanks to you," I told him with a small grin.

There was a moment of silence before I decided to speak again.

"Can you tell me a story, Dad?" I asked quietly.

"There once was this man, so old and so wise. He was so bitter and alone, having lost his best friend. Feeling guilty, be traveling with others to fill the time. But as time went on, he met this beautiful woman that reminded him so much of his best friend. They traveled together happily until one day she encountered a young woman who..." my dad spoke softly, lulling me into a deep sleep.

"Good night, Sweetheart. I love you."


	3. School Reunion

**Hello everyone! I am so sorry it has taken me so long to update. I have one week left of school and then I am done, so hopefully, I'll post more this summer. I don't own anything except Victoria. I really hope you all enjoy. I would also really appreciate any comments or suggestions! I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Being a doctor in a hospital was one thing, but being a school nurse was another. For the past two days, I had been posing as a school nurse while Rose was a lunch lady and the Doctor was a physics teacher.

Mickey, Rose's boyfriend, had called us back down to Earth to investigate a school, and from what I've seen, and heard, he was right to call.

Left and right children seemed to be falling ill. It was like there was some sort of virus going around. Pale, tired, nauseous, the children would come in seeking medical attention.

There was little time during a school day when children weren't coming in, and although it broke my heart to see the children sick, I can't handle working as a school nurse anymore.

I looked down at my watch before checking for incoming students. When I was sure that no one was coming, I quickly shed my lab coat before walking to the cafeteria.

I was quick to get in line, and as I passed Rose, I smiled lightly at her. She quickly dropped some food on my tray, barely looking at me as she glared across the room at the Doctor.

"How's your nursing job?" the Doctor asked as I sat down next to him.

"I can't take it anymore. It's like there is an infinite amount of kids just being sent to my office," I grumbled as I stabbed my fork into my chips.

"At least you don't have to clean up after the children and serve them this slop," Rose spoke as she walked over to our table.

"I've had to do this for two days now," she whispered as she wiped crumbs off the table.

"Sorry, could you just-" the Doctor pointed a spot on the table with his fork. "There's a bit of gravy."

Rolling her eyes, Rose moved her towel towards the Doctor. I slapped the Doctor's shoulder slightly before stabbing another fry.

"Two days we've been here," she repeated, sending the Doctor a look of annoyance.

"Blame your boyfriend, he's the one who put us onto this. And he was right. Boy in class this morning, he's got a knowledge way beyond planet Earth," the Doctor told Rose and I nodded.

"I heard about that in the staff room this morning. It's happening in almost every class," I mentioned when the Doctor pushed his chips away.

"You eating those chips?" Rose asked and the Doctor shook his head.

"Yeah, they're a bit... different," he noted and I nodded.

"They're pretty good, better than my school had. But... there is something off about them," I spoke, holding up one of the chips at eye level.

Rose reached forward and took the chip off my fork before putting it in her mouth. "Well, I think they're gorgeous."

Rose sat down her cloth before taking a seat across from the Doctor.

"This place is very well behaved," the Doctor said and I looked around the cafeteria.

"Yeah," I nodded in agreement.

"I thought there'd be happy-slapping hoodies. Happy-slapping hoodies with ASBOs. Happy-slapping hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones," the Doctor said while Rose and I gave him a look. "Yeah? Yeah? Oh, yeah! Don't tell me I don't fit in."

"You are not permitted to leave your station during a sitting," an authoritative voice spoke from behind me.

Looking over my shoulder stood one of the dinner ladies staring at Rose. Rose quickly stood from her seat, saying: "I was just talking to these teachers."

"Hello!" the Doctor and I waved.

"He doesn't like the chips," Rose pseudo-whispered to the woman.

"The menu has been specifically designed by the headmaster to improve concentration and performance. Now, get back to work," the dinner lady commanded before walking away.

Rose sighed, grabbing her washcloth and walking away. She stopped for a moment to look at us.

"This is me," she gestured down to outfit. "The Dinner Lady."

"I'll have the crumble," called the Doctor with a small, teasing smile.

"I'm so gonna kill you," Rose glared at the Doctor before walking away.

I looked away from Rose to see a teacher approaching a little girl only a few tables away. I looked away, slapping the Doctor's arm slightly, hoping to get his attention.

"Melissa. You'll be joining my class for the next period. Milo's failed me, so it's time we moved you up to the top class," the teacher told the little girl.

He turned away from her towards a young boy. "Kenny? Not eating the chips?"

The little boy shook his head, responding that he wasn't allowed to eat the food.

The teacher then shifted his attention to another little boy sitting nearby. "Luke, extra class. Now."

The teacher gave Luke a look before walking away from the cafeteria. A handful of kids, maybe half a class, followed him out of the room. Just as he reached the door, he looked over his shoulder, meeting my eyes for a moment, before leaving the room.

"That's odd," I muttered and the Doctor hummed in agreement.

"I don't think you should eat those," the Doctor said, nodding down to my food.

"I think I saw some biscuits in the staff room," I mentioned.

The Doctor stood up from his chair, taking our food to the trash.

"Now's our chance to talk to the teachers," the Doctor said and I nodded, getting out of my seat.

By the time we got to the staff room, there were a handful of teachers relaxing, talking to one another. The biscuits were easy to find, and after we found them, we sat down on one of the empty desks.

In front of us, one of the teachers was pacing with a confused look on his face.

"Excuse me, Sir. Are you okay?" I asked and he looked at us.

"I had a twelve-year-old girl give me the exact height of the Walls of Troy... in cubits yesterday. Something really strange is going on," he told me and I nodded.

"And, it's ever since the new headmaster arrived?" the Doctor asked.

"Finch arrived three months ago. Next day, half the staff got flu. Finch replaced them with that lot," the man said, nodding towards a group of teachers.

"Except for the teachers you replaced, and that was just plain weird, them winning the lottery like that," the man said and I tilted my head.

"How's that weird?" the Doctor asked.

"The teachers you replaced, they never played! Said the ticket was posted through their doors at midnight," he said, looking at the Doctor.

"Well, the world is very strange," the Doctor said and I nodded, swinging my legs slightly.

"Excuse me, colleagues. If I could have a moment of your time," the Headmaster said to the room.

The Doctor and I looked at the Headmaster to see an older brunette standing next to him.

"May I introduce Miss Sarah Jane Smith. Miss Smith is a journalist, who's writing a profile about me for the Sunday Times," the Headmaster introduced, causing my eyes to widen.

"Doctor," I gasped, turning towards him.

The Doctor had a smile at the sight of Sarah Jane Smith.

"I thought it might be useful for her to get 'a view from the trenches', so to speak. Don't spare my blushes," the Headmaster announced before walking off.

The Doctor and I seemed to catch Sarah Jane's eye as she walked towards us.

"Hello!" Sarah Jane smiled at us and I waved.

"Oh, I should think so!" the Doctor said, confusing Sarah Jane slightly.

"And, you are?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm John Smith and this is Victoria Jones," the Doctor introduced as I smiled lightly.

"John Smith? I used to have a friend who sometimes went by that name," Sarah Jane said, a nostalgic look appearing in her eyes.

"Well, it is a common name!"

"He was a very uncommon man," Sarah Jane told us as she held out her hand.

"It's nice to meet you both," she said with a smile.

"It's a pleasure," I said softly as we shook hands.

"So, how long have you both worked here?" she asked us.

"Today is our second day."

"Oh, you're new, then? So, what do you think of the school? I mean, this new curriculum?" Sarah Jane asked us, yet the Doctor seemed to ignore the question.

"I mean, So many children getting ill, doesn't that strike you as odd?" she asked and I looked at her.

"I'm the head nurse," I told her, catching her interest. "So many kids come to my office feeling sick and weak."

"Really? That's odd," she said and I nodded.

"You know, you don't sound like someone just doing a profile," the Doctor said, making Sarah Jane shift uncomfortably.

"Well, no harm in a little investigation while I'm here," Sarah Jane explained and the Doctor smiled.

"Good for you," the Doctor said, watching her walk away. "Good for you, Sarah Jane Smith."

I turned to the Doctor in excitement.

"Oh my god, I just met Sarah Jane Smith. _The_ Sarah Jane Smith," I said with a huge smile. The Doctor smiled just as widely as me while we watched Sarah Jane investigate.

The bell rang soon after, telling us to get back to work.

"Alright, meet me in the staff room after school," the Doctor told me after having walked me to my office.

"Alright. See you then," I told him with a smile before getting back to work.

* * *

Once school finally ended, Rose, the Doctor and I went out to meet up with Mickey. We had agreed to meet near the school at Mickey's car. When we got to the meeting point, a youngish African American man was leaning on the car whom I assume is Mickey.

"Doctor! Rose!" he called us over.

"Mickey! I want you to meet Victoria Jones! She's been traveling with us for a few months," the Doctor introduced and I waved.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," I said with a smile as I held out my hand.

"Mickey Smith. Nice to meet you," he shook my hand.

After our introductions, the Doctor led us to a fire exit in the school. As we got to the door, the Doctor soniced the lock and we snuck into the building.

"Oh, it's weird seeing the school at night. It just feels wrong," Rose whispered and I nodded.

We walked slowly down the hallway, carefully watching our surroundings until we reached a split in the hallway.

"When I was a kid, I used to think all the teachers slept in school," Rose said.

"All right, team. Oh, I hate people who say 'team'. Um... 'gang'. Um... 'comrades'. Uh... anyway. Rose, go to the kitchen and get a sample of that oil. Mickey, the new staff are all Maths teachers, go and check out the Maths department. Victoria and I are gonna look in Finch's office. Be back here in ten minutes," the Doctor said before grabbing my hand, pulling me to a staircase.

We slowed down once we reached another hallway. In the distance, I could hear a flapping noise and a screech. The Doctor stopped for a moment before pulling me to the source of the sound.

As we reached a room, I saw Sarah Jane back into a room near the TARDIS.

"Doctor look," I whispered, pointing towards Sarah Jane.

He grabbed my hand again and we walked towards Sarah Jane, waiting for her to notice the blue box.

I smiled softly as her eyes widen in shock from seeing the TARDIS. Slowly turning around, Sarah Jane eyes widened as she saw the Doctor.

"Hello, Sarah Jane," the Doctor quietly told her.

"It's you... Doctor!" she said with a smile as she crept closer towards us.

"It's you! It's... It's... You've regenerated," she whispered in awe.

"Half a dozen times since I last saw you," the Doctor spoke.

"You look... incredible," Sarah Jane complimented, causing the Doctor to smile lightly. "So do you," he replied with a nod.

"I got old," she replied, denying his statement quickly.

Sarah Jane moved closer to the Doctor, slowly taking in his appearance with cautious eyes. As she moved her gaze away from the Doctor, she noticed me standing slightly behind him.

"Victoria Jones was it?" she asked hesitantly.

With a smile, I nodded and said: "It's nice to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," she said, smiling lightly at me.

"What are you doing here?" she asked us after a moment.

"Well... UFO sightings, the school gets record results. I couldn't resist. What about you?" the Doctor questioned in return.

"Same," she replied, causing her and the Doctor to laugh for a moment.

"I thought you'd died. I waited for you and you didn't come back, and I thought you must've died," she said as her laughter died down, tears welling in her eyes.

"I lived while everyone else died."

"What do you mean?" she asked gently.

"Everyone died, Sarah," he told her, pain evident in his voice.

"I can't believe it's you," she whispered with the shake of her head when a scream echoed through the air.

"Okay! Now I can!" she said with a slight laugh as the three of us ran towards the sound.

After we got back to the ground level, we ran into Rose who was also running towards the scream.

"Did you hear that?" she asked the Doctor and I, not noticing Sarah Jane beside me.

When she finally did see her, Rose stiffened as she stared harshly at the woman.

"Who is she?" she asked, giving Sarah Jane a once over.

"Rose, Sarah Jane! Sarah Jane, Rose," I introduced while the two shook hands.

"Hi. Nice to meet you," Sarah Jane told Rose with a strained, obviously fake smile.

As she turned to the Doctor, she told him: "You can tell you're getting older - your assistants are getting younger."

At that, Rose was absolutely fuming and I stiffened slightly, feeling slightly offended.

"We're not his assistants!" Rose exclaimed angrily as she nodded towards me.

"No? I get you, tiger," Sarah Jane said with a humorless laugh.

I nudged the Doctor with my elbow, hoping he would intervene soon. He shook his head before grabbing my hand and pulling me down the hall we were going.

In the room was Mickey surrounded by dozens of vacuum-packed rats.

"Sorry! Sorry, it was only me. You told me to investigate, so I... I started looking through some of these cupboards and all of these fell out of them," Mickey explained while the Doctor bent down and picked up a package.

"Oh, my God, they're rats. Dozens of rats. Vacuum packed rats," Rose muttered in disgust.

"And you decided to scream," the Doctor asked teasingly.

"It took me by surprise!" Mickey defended.

"Like a little girl?" the Doctor mocked and I elbowed him hard in the side.

"Now is not the time, Doctor," I told him with a slight glare.

"Victoria is right! Does anyone else find it weird that a school has a bunch of vacuum-packed rats?" Rose asked and Sarah Jane gave her a look.

"Well, obviously they use them in Biology lessons. They dissect them. Or maybe you haven't reached that bit yet. How old are you?" Sarah Jane asked, causing the Doctor, Mickey and I to shift uncomfortably.

"Excuse me, no one dissects rats in school anymore. They haven't done that for years. Where are you from, the dark ages?" Rose angrily retorted.

I turned my head slightly and stared at the Doctor, urging him to say something.

"Everything started when Mr. Finch arrived. We should go and check his office," the Doctor suggested before leading us down a hallway.

"I don't mean to be rude or anything, but who exactly are you?" Rose asked obnoxiously.

"Sarah Jane Smith. I used to travel with the Doctor," Sarah Jane told Rose and Rose stopped for a second.

"Hm. Well, he's never mentioned you," Rose told her and I winced.

"Oh, I must have! Right, Victoria?" he said looking at me.

"Don't bring me into this argument. I haven't done anything," I muttered, brushing past the Doctor.

As we walked down the hallway, the Doctor quickly caught up with me, walking right next to me. As we reached the Headmaster's office, the Doctor pulled out his sonic. Quickly sonicing the door, we slowly peered into the room.

"Maybe those rats are food," I suggested upon seeing the room.

"Food for what?" Rose asked while the Doctor and I stared up at the ceiling.

He turned slightly towards her and asked, "Rose... you know how you thought teachers slept in the school. Well... they do."

The Doctor pushed open the door more to allow everyone to see what was happening. Inside there were bat-like creatures hanging from the ceiling while four of them blinked their eyes at us.

"No way!" Mickey breathed, stumbling backward.

I allowed for Rose and Sarah Jane to exit the room first before running out the door.

I looked over my shoulder to see the Doctor close the door and sonic it shut. He quickly caught up to me and grabbed my hand, pulling me along with him. We quickly ran to the front door, leaving the creepy school.

"I am not going back in there. No way!" Mickey wheezed from the running.

"Those were teachers!" Rose exclaimed and I nodded.

"When Finch arrived, he brought with him seven new teachers, four dinner ladies, and a nurse. Thirteen. Thirteen big bat people. Come on," the Doctor explained as he turned around, heading for the school's doors.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Mickey sighed.

"I need the TARDIS. I've got to analyze that oil from the kitchen," the Doctor explained.

While shaking her head, Sarah Jane said, "I might be able to help you, there. I've got something to show you!"

She grabbed the Doctor's arm and pulled him towards the parking lot.

We quickly reached Sarah Jane's car where she opened the boot of her car. Inside sat a weirdly shaped objected covered in a green blanket. Reaching forward, the Doctor pulled off the blanket to reveal a metal dog.

"Oh my god. Is that -" I gasped as the Doctor nodded his head excitedly.

"K9! Victoria Jones, Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, allow me to introduce K9 - well, K9 Mark III to be precise," the Doctor introduced, causing my smile to grow.

"I can't believe I get to meet K9!" I smiled, moving closer to pet the robotic pet.

"Why does he look so... disco?" Rose asked, obviously not caring about K9.

"Oi! Listen, in the year five thousand, this was cutting edge! What's happened to him?" the Doctor asked, shifting his attention to Sarah Jane.

"One day he just... stopped," she explained sadly.

"Well, didn't you try and get him repaired?" the Doctor asked while Sarah Jane and I cast him a look.

"If he's advanced technology, she wouldn't be able to expose K9 to the world," I told him, watching as he nodded slowly, quickly catching on.

He shook his head before reaching down to pet the dog. After a moment, I reached down and did too, not missing the odd looks Rose and Mickey were sending us.

"Look, no offense but could you three just stop petting for a minute? Never mind the tin dog, we're busy," Rose butted in angrily.

Nodding the Doctor closed the boot of the car shut. We all clamored into the car as the Doctor directed Sarah Jane to a nearby shop.

When we got out of the car, Sarah Jane and Rose stood as far apart as possible. Rose shot the Doctor a glare as she and Mickey walked into the shop.

I shook my head as I helped the Doctor carry K9 into the building.

Rose and Mickey stood in line for chips while Sarah Jane, the Doctor and I sat at the table with K9. The Doctor had pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and began scanning K9.

I sat quietly, staring out the window as the Doctor and Sarah Jane chatted. They were having a lovely chat, laughing and smiles included, and I smiled lightly at the sound of their laughs.

"So, Victoria. How long have you traveled with the Doctor?" she asked me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"For about a year I think," I told her, looking to the Doctor for confirmation.

Nodding, the Doctor told Sarah Jane, "We met at this little hospital. We were both visiting the same person and she ended up helping me with the adventure."

"The way you two act... I would have thought you'd have known each other for years," Sarah Jane admitted, looking at us.

"We've become pretty good friends over the past year," the Doctor told her, causing me to smile.

"I grew up surrounded by aliens, so I know a lot about their technology and their cultures. I'm also a doctor myself," I explained.

"A real doctor?" She asked and I nodded.

"I graduated from Cambridge just shortly before I met the Doctor."

"That's amazing," she said with a small smile.

A silence surrounded us for a moment before Sarah Jane shifted her attention back to the Doctor.

"I thought of you on Christmas Day. This Christmas just went? With the giant spaceship. I thought, 'I bet he's up there'".

"Right on top," the Doctor said with a slight grin.

"Were they?" Sarah Jane asked hesitantly, looking at me and Rose.

"Victoria wasn't but Rose was," he said, shifting his gaze towards Mickey and Rose.

"Did I do something wrong? Because you never came back for me. You just... dumped me," Sarah Jane asked after a moment, causing the Doctor to tense up slightly beside me.

"I told you. I was called back home and in those days humans weren't allowed," the Doctor explained somberly.

"I waited for you... I missed you," Sarah Jane explained, her eyes watering just slightly.

I looked away from the two, feeling like I was interrupting a very private moment.

"Oh, you didn't need me! You were getting on with your life," the Doctor tried to tell her, obviously trying to brush off her words.

"You were my life," Sarah Jane told him and he froze for a second.

"You know what the most difficult thing was? Coping with what happens next, and with what doesn't happen next. You took me to the furthest reaches of the galaxy, you showed me supernovas, intergalactic battles and then you just dropped me back on Earth. How could anything compare to that?" Sarah Jane asked, causing the Doctor to furrow his eyebrows.

"All those things you saw - do you want me to apologize for that?" the Doctor asked and she shook her head.

"No, but we get a taste of that splendor... and then we have to go back," she whispered and I frowned slightly.

"But look at you, you're investigating. You found that school and you're doing what we always did," the Doctor said with a smile, trying to cheer Sarah Jane up a little.

"You could have come back," she whispered so softly that I barely heard her.

"I couldn't."

"Why not?"

The Doctor looked away from Sarah Jane at K9, ignoring her question completely. He turned on his sonic screwdriver once more and silently went back to fixing K9.

"It wasn't Croydon, where you dropped me off, it wasn't Croydon!" Sarah Jane interrupted the silence after a few awkward moments.

"Where was it?" the Doctor asked hesitantly, looking up from K9.

"Aberdeen," she said with annoyance.

"Right," the Doctor said, taking that information in.

"That's next to Croydon, isn't it?" the Doctor asked jokingly and Sarah Jane smiled.

The Doctor soniced K9 once more, causing the robotic dog to come to life.

"Oh hey! Now we're in business!" the Doctor said happily as he hopped out of his seat to stand in front of the dog.

"Master!" K9 called out, making the Doctor smile.

"He recognizes me!" the Doctor gleefully exclaimed.

"Affirmative," K9 answered as the Doctor called Rose over.

"Rose, we need the oil," he told her as she took a small jar out of her pocket.

The Doctor quickly unscrewed the lid, ready to stick his finger in the oil when Rose cut him off.

"I wouldn't touch it, though, that dinner lady got all scalded," she explained quickly.

"I'm no dinner lady," the Doctor smiled before continuing, "And I don't say that often." He then stuck his finger into the odd oil before smearing it on K9's sensor.

"Here we go. Come on," the Doctor muttered encouragingly to K9.

"Oil. Ex - ex - ex - extract ana - an- analysing..." K9 stuttered out, causing Mickey to grin.

"Listen to it, Man! Now that's a voice!" he said with a laugh.

"Careful! That's my dog!" Sarah Jane cut in with a dangerous tone as well as a slight glare.

"Confirmation of analysis - substance is Krillitane Oil," K9 announced, creating silence in the room.

"They're Krillitanes," the Doctor muttered in shock.

"Is that bad?"

"Very. Think of how bad things could possibly be, and add another suitcase full of bad," the Doctor said, staring at her darkly.

"And what are... Krillitanes?" Sarah Jane questioned, causing the Doctor to turn around and look at her.

"They're a composite race. Just like your culture is a mixture of traditions from all sorts of countries, people you've invaded or have been invaded by, you've got bits, bits of Viking, bits of France, bits of whatever, the Krillitanes are the same. An amalgam of the races they've conquered. But they take physical aspects as well. They cherry-pick the best bits from the people they destroy. That's why I didn't recognize them. The last time I saw Krillitanes, they looked just like us except they had really long necks," the Doctor rambled quickly.

"What are they doing here?" Rose asked after a moment.

A look of horror grew on the Doctor's face as realization struck him.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" I asked, putting a hand on his arm.

"It's the children. They're doing something to the children."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get going," I commanded, moving forward to grab K9.

Sarah Jane and Mickey helped me carry K9 as Rose approached the Doctor walked slowly out of the shop, talking tensely and quietly.

"So, what's the deal with the tin dog?" Mickey asked Sarah Jane as we reached the car.

"The Doctor likes traveling with an entourage. Sometimes they're humans, sometimes they're aliens, and sometimes... they're tin dogs," Sarah Jane, causing all of us to smile.

"What about you? Where do you fit in the picture?" Sarah Jane asked, opening the boot in the process.

"Me? I'm their Man in Havana. I'm the technical support, I'm..." he trailed off, his eyes growing wide. "Oh god. I'm the tin dog."

In a fit of shock, Mickey leaned against the car with a deep sigh. Smiling, Sarah Jane put her hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright, Mickey. The tin dog is pretty awesome, " I said with a smile.

"Thanks, Victoria," he smiled back.

"I've heard a bit about you from the Doctor, and you seem pretty cool in my book. I'm glad I finally got to meet you," I told him and I watched his smile grow larger.

"The Doctor seems happy to have you," Mickey said after a moment.

With a shrug, I told him," I'd call him my best friend. This past year has become my favorite memory. I'm so glad that I met the Doctor."

A terrifying screech filled the air followed by the flapping of a wing. Mickey, Sarah Jane and I turned around to see a Krillitane flying towards us.

I let out a shocked cry as it swooped close to me. Mickey grabbed my arm and yanked down, pulling me towards the ground.

"Victoria!" the Doctor and Rose called, running towards me.

"Are you okay?" the Doctor asked, holding a hand out to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, taking his hand, allowing for him to pull me up.

"Was that a Krillitane?" Sarah Jane questioned once she realized that I was okay.

"It just flew off! What did it do that for?" Rose asked the Doctor, fear shining through her eyes.

"I'm not sure..." the Doctor trailed off, watching the retreating figure.

* * *

The next morning, the five of us piled into Sarah Jane's car and drove to the school. As we all stood in the parking lot, the Doctor began giving instructions. "Rose, Sarah Jane, you go to the maths room. Victoria, I want you there too. I need you to crack open the computers so we can see what the hardware looks like. Here, take this," the Doctor said, handing the sonic screwdriver to me.

"Mickey, I want you outside doing surveillance."

"Just stand outside?"

"Here, take these," Sarah Jane called out, tossing her keys to Mickey. "You can keep K9 company."

"And don't forget to crack the window a bit," the Doctor added with a smirk.

"But he's metal!" Mickey exclaimed, causing the Doctor's smirk to grow.

"I didn't mean for him," he told Mickey and I elbowed the Doctor.

"What are you going to do?" Rose asked.

"It's time a had a word with Mr. Finch."

We all split up quickly, Rose, Sarah Jane and I rushing to the maths room. It took us five minutes to get to the class, and I immediately crouched to look at the computers.

I began scanning the computer as Sarah Jane and Rose talked tensely.

"Rose, Victoria, can I give you both some advice?" Sarah Jane asked after a moment.

"I got a feeling you're going to anyway," Rose muttered, causing me to pause.

"I know how intense a relationship with the Doctor can be, and I don't want you to feel I'm intruding..." Sarah Jane began, and Rose cut her off. "I don't feel threatened by you and I'm sure Victoria doesn't either."

"Good. Because I'm not interested in picking up where we left off," Sarah Jane said, making Rose scoff.

"No? With the big sad eyes and the robot dog? What else were you doing last night?" Rose asked and I rolled my eyes.

I shook my head and continued scanning the computer, noticing that I was closing to cracking open the computer.

"I was just saying how hard it was adjusting to life back on Earth..." Sarah Jane trailed.

"The thing is, when you two met, they'd only just got rid of rationing. No wonder all that space stuff was a bit too much for ya," Rose muttered and I groaned lightly. They were going to drive me insane.

"I had no problem with space stuff. I saw things you wouldn't believe," Sarah Jane hissed at Rose.

"Try me."

"Mummies."

"I've met ghosts," Rose told her, crossing her arms.

"Robots. Lots of robots," Sarah Jane rebutted.

"Slitheen! In Downing Street!"

"Daleks," Sarah Jane said, causing Rose to snort.

"Met the emperor," Rose said with a smirk.

"Real living-" Sarah Jane started when I got out from under the desk. "Will you two please shut up!" I yelled, feed up with their arguing.

"While you two were fighting, I've finally cracked open the computer! The Doctor wants you to get along and all you're doing is clawing at each other's throats!" I yelled angrily, pointing the sonic towards the girls.

I watched as both Sarah Jane and Rose had the decency to look guilty. The looked at each other, sending the other an apologetic look.

After a few moments of silence, the two women began laughing, realizing how silly they were being.

"She's right, listen to us. It's like me and my mate Shireen. The only time we fell out was over a man, and... we're arguing over the Doctor," Rose said with a small laugh.

"With you, did he do that thing where he'd explain something at like, ninety-miles-per-hour, and you'd go, "what?" and he'd look at you like you'd just dribbled on your shirt?" Rose asked, giggling.

"All the time!" Sarah Jane exclaimed, laughing harder, causing me to smile.

"Does he still stroke bits of the TARDIS?" Sarah Jane asked, wheezing slightly from laughing.

"Yeah! Yeah! He does! I'm like, 'do you two wanna be alone?'" Rose folded over laughing.

I looked over at the door to see the Doctor walk into the room.

"How's it going?" he asked, causing Rose and Sarah Jane to start laughing harder.

"I got it open," I called to him and he smiled, walking over to me.

"Brilliant! Tell me, what's wrong with them?" he asked, causing Rose to start crying slightly from her laughter.

I giggled slightly, shaking my head as I handed the Doctor back the sonic.

"What's going on?" he asked confusedly, causing me to join in the laughter.

"Victoria! What's going on?" he asked again and I shook my head, pointing at the two girls.

"Just help me!" he said, pulling me down with him to look at the computer.

The Doctor and I worked quickly as Sarah Jane and Rose's laughter died down.

After five minutes, the bell went off throughout the building and the loudspeaker came on, "All pupils to class immediately. And would all members of staff congregate in the staff room."

Looking up, I saw a herd of students rushing towards the door to the room. Rose ran for the door, shooing the children away.

I looked closely at the Doctor and the hardware to see it in complete disarray. The Doctor shook his head, ripping wires harshly.

"I can't shift it," the Doctor glared at the computer.

"I thought the sonic screwdriver could open anything!" Sarah Jane called and I shook my head.

"Everything but deadlock seals. And wood. Never works on wood," I rushed, looking desperately at the computer.

"There has to be something we can do!" I muttered, staring hard at the computer.

"Doctor!" Sarah Jane called out, and we both crawled out from under the desk.

"You wanted the code. Well there it is," she pointed at the computer screens.

Every computer held a green screen with lots of numbers and letters flying across the screen.

"It looks like it's some sort of... code," I said, staring at the screen.

"No... No... that can't be!" the Doctor said, his eyes growing wide in horror.

"Doctor? What's wrong?" I asked, moving closer to him.

The Skasis Paradigm. They're trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm," the Doctor muttered, his eyes moving constantly as he watched the screen.

"That Skasis what?" Sarah Jane asked.

"The... God-maker. The universal theory. Crack that equation and you've got control of the building blocks of the universe. Time and space and matter, yours to control," the Doctor explained slowly, never taking his eyes off the screen once.

"Are the kids... computers?" Rose hesitantly asked, looking at the Doctor.

"Yes."

He shook his head and looked away from the screen. He began pacing around the room, thinking quietly.

"And their learning power is being accelerated by the oil! That oil from the kitchens, it works as a...as a... conducting agent. Makes the kids cleverer," he said in a rush, making it hard to keep up.

"Wait, but Rose and I have been eating those chips," I told the Doctor, glancing towards Rose.

"What's fifty-nine times thirty-five?"

"Two thousand and sixty-five," I stated after a moment with Rose only a few seconds behind.

"Oh my god," Rose whispered as the Doctor gave us a look.

"But why use children? Can't they use adults?" Sarah Jane asked, walking towards us.

"Children are creative, they have imagination. Unlike most adults, the kids haven't had their souls broken, they're pure. Their souls are being used," I explained slowly, realizing the situation.

"Let the lesson begin," a voice said right behind me.

I spun around to see Mr. Finch standing right in front of me. "Think of it, Doctor, with the Paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it," he spoke, moving closer to the Doctor.

"Oh yeah? The whole of creation with the face of. Call me old-fashioned, but I like things as they are."

"You act like such a radical, and yet all you want to do is preserve the old order. Think of the changes that could be made if this power was used for good," Finch spoke smoothly, staring intently at the Doctor.

"What, by someone like you?" the Doctor asked, skeptical.

"No, someone like you," he whispered, causing the Doctor pause.

"The Paradigm gives us power, but you could give us wisdom. Become a God. At my side. Imagine what you could do, think of the civilizations you could save. Perganon, Assinta... your own people, Doctor. Standing tall. The Time Lords... reborn," Finch spoke, his voice almost hypnotizing.

"Doctor, don't listen to him," Sarah Jane pleaded from behind me.

Turning towards Rose and Sarah Jane, he smirked lightly. "And you could be with him throughout eternity. Young... fresh... never wither, never age... never die. Their lives are so fleeting. So many goodbyes. How lonely you must be, Doctor. Join us." He then turned towards me with a creepy smile with an odd look in his eyes.

"But you, Miss Jones, are something different. I can sense it, the small power within you. But you don't know do you?" he whispered with a wide grin, causing me to freeze. "The power within you is strong, but you don't know. You could stay with the Doctor forever."

"I could save everyone..." the Doctor whispered, a far-off look in his eyes.

"Yes."

"I could stop the war..." he said quietly, barely loud enough for us to hear.

"No. The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss - they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world or a relationship... everything has its time. And everything ends," Sarah Jane told him desperately, staring at him in concern.

He stared at Finch with a hard look as he was shaken out of his thought. He grabbed a chair nearby and threw at one of the screens.

"Out!" the Doctor yelled, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the room with him.

We all ran down the stairs to see Mickey and one of the children from the school. "What's going on?" Mickey called out as we approached him.

I looked over my shoulder and saw three of Krillitanes flying towards us. I pulled the Doctor with me as I ran down the hallway with the others right behind me.

I ran for the canteen and raced for one of the doors while the Doctor pulled out his sonic. As he went to scan the door to unlock it, Finch burst through the door with a few Krillitanes behind him.

"Are they my teachers?" the child that stood with Mickey asked.

"Yeah. I'm sorry," the Doctor apologized.

"Leave the Doctor alive. As for the others... you can feast," Finch announced, letting the aliens fly towards us.

The Doctor and I both grabbed chairs and started batting the Krillitanes as Rose and Sarah Jane ducked, covering their heads as best as possible. Mickey stood huddled with the student, protecting him as best as possible.

One of the Krillitanes' wing hit my chair, making it fly across the room. The alien quickly swooped towards me, it's claws a foot from my face when a red beam flew passed my vision and hit it. The Krillitane dropped dead to the floor, almost hitting me.

"K9!" Sarah Jane called happily.

"Victoria! Are you okay?" the Doctor questioned and I answered.

"I suggest you engage running mode, mistress," K9 called out, causing me to snort softly.

"Come on!" the Doctor yelled and we all ran after him, K9 close behind us.

"K9, hold them back!" the Doctor yelled as the robotic dog shot lasers.

As we reached an exit door, the Doctor ushered us out. As soon as I stepped through the door, the Doctor slammed the door shut and locked it.

The Doctor led us to the physics room where he began thinking out loud. He quickly realized that the Krillitanes couldn't handle the oil we'd found earlier.

"Okay, we need to get to the kitchen. Mickey-" the Doctor began before he was cut off.

"What now, hold the coats?" Mickey asked sarcastically.

"Get all the children unplugged and out of the school," he told him before looking towards me. "Now then, bats, bats, bats, how do we fight bats?"

The child ran over to the fire alarm where he elbowed it, breaking the glass casing. He quickly pulled the alarm, letting off a shrill sound. The Krillitanes began screeching, causing the Doctor to beam.

We raced for the door, the Doctor grabbing my hand in the process, and left while the Krillitanes couldn't move.

"Master!" K9 called as we approached him.

"Come on, boy! Good boy," the Doctor called, making me smile lightly.

We continued running down the hall when we finally reached the kitchen. We raced into the room to see the barrels full of oil in the middle of the room. The Doctor crouched down next to one and pulled out his sonic.

"Gah! It has a deadlock seal!" he muttered angrily as he moved to another barrel.

"Finch must have done that. I can't open them."

"The vats would not withstand a direct hit from my laser. But my batteries are failing," K9 spoke, rolling closer to the Doctor.

"Right. Everyone out the back door. K9, stay with me," the Doctor ordered, so the three of us rushed out the back door.

We rushed about 10 feet away from the door where me and Sarah Jane huddled together and Rose ran off to Mickey. We waited for the Doctor to come back. We stood there for less than five minutes when the Doctor ran out the door.

After sonicing the door closed, he ran towards us, but there was no K9.

"Where's K9?" Sarah Jane asked desperately as the Doctor got closer.

"We need to move," the Doctor urged.

"Where is he? What have you done?" she cried, gripping the Doctor's shoulders.

The Doctor shook his head slightly, gripping her arm and pulling her away from the building. We reached the back of the parking lot when an explosion sounded behind us.

The children that Mickey had rounded up began cheering, watching as their school went up in flames.

"I'm sorry."

"It's all right. He was just a... daft metal dog. Fine, really," she spoke quickly as tears began to roll down her face. The Doctor frowned, catching my eye while he wrapped a comforting arm around Sarah Jane.

* * *

That night the Doctor took me to his workroom to help him build a new robot for Sarah Jane.

I sat close to the Doctor, looking at the wiring and the mechanics of K9.

"How hard would it be to make a sonic screwdriver?" I asked as I flipped through some of his plans.

The Doctor paused, looking up from his work.

After a moment of contemplation, the Doctor took off his goggles.

"It shouldn't be too hard. I mean, it may take a while, but it can be done," the Doctor answered.

"Do you think I could make one? Or at least I help you make one?" I asked, purposefully using puppy eyes.

He laughed at the look and nodded.

"Sure, let's do it. We can start working on it soon," he smiled before flipping his goggles over his eyes.

We worked in silence for the rest of the night, except for few questions I'd ask and his answers and the occasional joke followed by laughter.

It took us maybe four hours to completely finish K9 and I was extremely happy about it.

"Mistress. Master," K9 voiced once he was working.

As I stroked his head lightly, I yawned into my other hand.

"It's probably time you go to bed," the Doctor said, but I shook my head.

"I don't want to walk," I muttered, feeling my lack of sleep start to hit me.

He stood up, stretching lightly before leaning over me. He hooked his arms under my legs and lifted me up.

"Off to bed," he whispered as he took me to my room.

He laid me down and took off my shoes. He then laid a few blankets over me.

"Goodnight, Victoria."

* * *

The next morning, Rose, Mickey, and I stood inside the TARDIS waiting for the Doctor and Sarah Jane.

"The Doctor had told you about Sarah Jane didn't he?" Rose asked, causing Mickey and I to look at her.

I nodded slowly, unsure of how she'd react.

"And he's told you about a lot of other things like his past. Like his old companions? Like Gallifrey? Like himself?" Rose asked, her voice becoming more aggressive the more she spoke.

"Yeah, he has."

"Why did he tell you and not me?" she asked angrily.

"I don't know? I know about aliens so some of the things he told me I already knew. I don't sleep a lot, I have a hard time falling asleep. I can't help why and what he's told me. But you can't be mad at me for the things he told me. That was his decision," I told her, looking her straight in the eyes.

"What has he-" Rose walked closer to me for more answer when the Doctor and Sarah Jane walked into TARDIS.

The Doctor looked at mine and Rose's defensive body language while Sarah Jane looked around.

"You've redecorated!" Sarah said, looking in awe.

"Do you like it?" he asked her, shifting his attention back to her.

"Oh, I, I do. Yeah. I preferred it as it was, but uh... yeah. It'll do!" Sarah Jane admitted, staring at the console lovingly.

"I love it," Rose called defensively.

"Hey, you - what's forty-seven times three hundred and sixty-nine?" Sarah Jane called with a smile, trying to break the tension in the room.

"No idea. It's gone now. The oil's faded," Rose responded.

"But you're still clever. More than a match for him," Sarah Jane said, causing Rose to smile.

"You and me both," Rose said, causing Sarah Jane to smile in return.

"Victoria!" Sarah Jane called out, pulling me aside to talk.

"It was so nice to meet you. You seem like you'll do the Doctor well, giving him a run for his money. You're smart, so keep using that head of yours," she told me with a smile as she drew me into a quick hug.

"I'm so glad I got to meet you as well. The Doctor told me so much about you and the adventures you had. If you wouldn't mind, I'd love you hear more about them," I trailed off, hoping she would catch on.

With a laugh, she took my phone from my hand and entered her contact information.

"If you need anything, anything at all, call me," she said with a smile.

"Thank you. It really was a great pleasure to meet you," I told her one last time before walking back to the console.

"Um, we're about to head off, but, you could come with us," the Doctor offered after a moment of silence.

With a shake of the head, Sarah Jane declined his offer.

"No... I can't do this anymore. Besides, I've got a much bigger adventure ahead! It's time I stopped waiting for you and found a life of my own," she said with much enthusiasm.

"Can I come?" Mickey called out, causing all of us to look at him.

I smiled as Mickey explained that he wanted to come aboard the TARDIS. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rose frowning at Mickey joining the group.

"Rose, is that okay?" Mickey called out after noticing her lack of response.

"No, great. Why not?" Rose said sarcastically and I frowned at her.

"Victoria?" he asked and I smiled and nodded.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Sarah Jane announced her departure.

As the Doctor walked to the door and Rose and Sarah had a conversation, I sat in the captain seat with Mickey.

I leaned forward and fiddled with the console, turning on the screen. Once the Doctor left the TARDIS, the three of us sat awkwardly waiting for the Doctor to come back.

When he did come back, he raced to the console where he set the TARDIS for space.

"Victoria, look," the Doctor pointed to the monitor.

The monitor showed Sarah Jane finding K9 behind the fading TARDIS.

"I'm glad she likes it," I told him with a smile, looking at the bright smile on her face.

"Me too," the Doctor said as we smiled at each other.


	4. The Girl in the Fireplace

**Thank you to everyone who has read my story so far. I really appricate all the follows, favorites, as well as views. I really hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

 **I would also like to thank Maethoriel Artemis for looking through this story and editing it.**

* * *

Once we fully materialized in space, Rose didn't spare me or the Doctor a glance, too upset to even talk to us. Mickey had run off to make sure she was okay quickly, being the good boyfriend he was. As the Doctor messed with the console, I sat staring at the rotor as it moved slowly up and down. I had begun swinging my legs absent-mindedly in time with the rotor when the Doctor had called out to me, pulling me from my thoughts.

I looked over at him, watching as he twisted a knob and fiddling with levers.

"It's obvious you and Rose were arguing about something. What about?" he questioned, looking over at me.

I refused to look at him, not wanting to tattle on the girl who I was becoming close with. "Does it matter?" I asked quietly, not sure if the Doctor had heard me.

After a moment of the though, the Doctor answered ''I don't like it when companions fight, and neither does the TARDIS."

Once the room started to fill with uncomfortable silence I decided to try and approach the topic gently.

"Doctor," I started. "Why did you tell me all those stories but not Rose?"

He looked hesitant to answer as if this were his first time really questioning why he had told me so much. "You said it yourself to Sarah Jane Smith earlier. You've known about aliens for most of your life, and you're brilliant. Plus, you're a Harkness, you have a weird sense of trustworthiness about you. But the first day I met you, you knew about me already. Jack had told you things about me that could have made you hate me, but it didn't. Although I've known Rose for longer, I've come to know you better and vise versa," the Doctor trailed off, looking at me with a somewhat affectionate gaze.

After what seemed like forever, my shock had finally worn off. "I don't think I can tell Rose that though," I joked lightly, waiting for the Doctor to say something.

"Don't worry about Rose. It's my fault for the way she's reacting, which, by the way, is a reason why I didn't want to tell her," the Doctor told me while turning back to the console.

Taking that as my cue to head to bed, I turned and walked towards the hallway when the Doctor called out to me. "I have one more thing I'd like for you to know. That is if you want to," he told me, sparking my curiosity. I turned back towards him, allowing for him to tell me.

"I'll tell you, only if you give me something in return," he suggested, walking towards me. I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows.

"And what would that trade be?" I questioned with a smile.

"A nickname for a nickname. I'm going to tell you my old nickname from the academy, one that I haven't told anyone. But, I think it'd only be fair if I got to give you a nickname," he trailed off, causing me to laugh a little.

"I think that's fair," I told him and he beamed at me.

"Now, you mustn't tell anyone this name. This is for your ears only," he explained, moving to stand in front of me. I nodded in acknowledgment as he inched a bit closer.

"When we're alone like we are right now, I'd like for you to call me Theta," he told me and I nodded with a grin.

"That can be done, Theta. Any ideas for my nickname?" I asked and he nodded.

"Vie, which in French means life or to live, and you bring life to the TARDIS," the Doctor said and I started smiling.

"That sounds good to me,"I told him and he grinned happily, the smile reaching his eyes. We stayed like that for a moment, enjoy the happy sensation surrounding us. Finally, the Doctor put his hand on my shoulder and told me to head to bed.

With a nod, I stepped back and turned towards my room. As I reached the door to the hallway, I turned around and called out, "Goodnight, Theta."

The TARDIS, being the dear that she was, moved my door just barely into the hallway. With a small smile and a little pat on the wall, I walked into my room and pulled my shoes off before changing into my pajamas.

When I finally fell onto my bed, it didn't take very long for sleep to overtake my body.

* * *

Later that day I woke up to the sound of the Doctor knocking on my door. I left bed quickly and noticed a set of clothing hanging on the wall, which was obviously the TARDIS's doing. I put the clothes on with a smile and grabbed the shoes she had set out for me as well.

When I reached the console room, the Doctor was talking with Rose, both looking tense yet calm. The Doctor looked up at the sound of my heels on the floor but continued talking to Rose. Looking to my right I saw Mickey standing by a beam, watching them in annoyance.

"What are they talking about?" I asked him and he looked at me in surprise.

"You. He heard about her getting angry so he's trying to talk some sense into her," he explained. I blinked a few times at him and then looked over at the two.

"How long have they been at it?" I asked and he shrugged.

"It feels like it's been twenty minutes, but I don't know how time works here," he trailed off and I smiled.

"Don't worry, neither do I. I've become accustomed to it though, not knowing the time. I don't have an alarm, except for the Doctor and the TARDIS. We just kind of go with the flow," I told him and he nodded.

We both looked over at the Doctor and Rose to see a surprising picture. The Doctor looked tense, and frown growing on his face while Rose's grew a smirk. "Should we step in?" I questioned, concerned about the outcome. Mickey looked at me and shook his head.

"We don't get involved," he pointed to the both of us. "They need to figure this out on their own," he explained.

I opened my mouth to say something when Rose let out a laugh, causing the Doctor to start laughing. I looked at Mickey, but he shrugged, not knowing what was going on.

"Alright, Vie is here, so we are ready to go. The TARDIS has been set to random, so I will let her do her thing!" the Doctor called, pushing buttons and pulling levers. The ride was as bumpy as always, maybe even more so as I was knocked onto the floor.

Once the TARDIS came to a stop, Rose came over and held out her hand. I grabbed it, allowing her to help pull me up. "I'm sorry," she apologized, looking at her hands. "I shouldn't have yelled at you, but you have to understand, I've known him longer, so I thought he would have told me. I get it, that's not my choice, it's his. And I've got to respect that. It kind of reminds me of those movies with one kid and then the mom has another baby and suddenly the first baby doesn't get as much attention," she rambled, causing me to let out a laugh.

"It's okay, Rose. Let's put it behind us," I told her and she nodded.

"Great, now that the girls are back together, it's time to explore," the Doctor said as he and Mickey waited by the door. Rose and I smiled at each other once more before walking towards the two men.

We walked into an empty room which was dark and quiet. I could barely make out the dust particles floating in the air.

It was obvious Mickey was excited as he smiled while he looked around. "It's a spaceship! Brilliant, I got a spaceship on my first go!" he exclaimed, looking at Rose with a smile.

"Looks kind of abandoned... Anyone on board?" Rose asked the Doctor.

Looking up from where he was searching, he told her "Nah, nothing here. Well! Nothing dangerous. Well! Not that dangerous." He paused, glancing once more around the room. "You know what, I'll just have a quick scan... in case there's anything dangerous," he said quickly, pulling out his sonic before doing as he said he would. The scan led him to a control panel. He scanned the panel where he found the light switch and activated it.

"So," Rose started. "What's the date? How far have we gone?"

"About three thousand years into your future, give or take."

The roof began moving slowly, opening like plastic curtains until the stars could be seen. The lights had taken a moment, but they eventually flickered on.

"Fifty-first century. Diagmar Cluster, you're a long way from home, Mickey! Two and a half galaxies!" the Doctor said smiling with his hands in his overcoat pocket.

Mickey was in a state of complete awe as he stared out a porthole. Rose gently smiled at his happiness as she joined him in watching the stars. She sat her hand on his shoulder as she enjoyed the view.

I walked closer to the Doctor as he inspected the control panel. It was covered in a few pieces of scrap metal and broken mechanics. "Dear me, had some cowboys in here! Got a ton of repair work going on," the Doctor muttered as he looked.

I helped him take the pieces off the panel which showed a screen. After getting enough of the debris off the screen, it showed a diagram of the ship. The Doctor and I looked at the map closely as Mickey and Rose wandered closer to see what we found.

"Now that's odd, look at that. All the warp engines are going... full capacity! There's enough power running through this ship to punch a hole in the universe... and we're not moving. So where's all that power going?" the Doctor asked out of curiosity.

"Doctor, shouldn't there be a crew?" I asked looking around.

"That's a good point," the Doctor said as he fiddled with the controls. "It says there are no signs of

life."

"Well, we're in deep space; they didn't just nip out for a quick drag," Rose muttered and the Doctor nodded.

"I already checked all the smoke pods," he told Rose. The Doctor had moved away from the screen and began sniffing the air. Turning to me, he asked, "Do you smell that?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "It smells like a barbeque."

"Like someone's cooking," Rose agreed.

"Sunday roast, definitely," Mickey added.

The Doctor moved his hand along the wall until he hit a switch, causing a door to open behind us.

Inside the new room was an old, beautiful fireplace that stood out from the fifty-first century technology. "Well, there's something you don't see in your average spaceship. Eighteenth-century! French! Nice mantel," the Doctor pointed his sonic at the fireplace.

After looking at the readings he found that it was a real fireplace. I crouched down next to the Doctor and looked closer at the fireplace. "Not even a reproduction, this actually is an eighteenth-century French fireplace. Double-sided, there's another room through there," the Doctor explained.

I looked into the fireplace to see a young blonde girl in a nightgown gazing into the fire as well.

"Hello!" I waved at the young girl, catching the Doctor's attention in the process.

"Hello..." the girl answered as the Doctor came into view as well.

"What's your name?" the Doctor grinned.

"Reinette."

"It's nice to meet you, Reinette, " I said with a smile.

"Reinette, that's a lovely name. Can you tell me where you are at the moment, Reinette?" the Doctor asked softly.

"My bedroom."

"Where do you live, Reinette?" he asked to which she responded

"Paris, of course! Mademoiselle, Monsieur, what are you doing in my fireplace?" Reinette asked in confusion.

"We're here for our annual cleaning. Reinette, could you tell us the year by any chance?" I asked.

"Of course I can! Seventeen hundred and twenty-seven," she responded.

"Right, lovely! One of my favorites... August is rubbish though. Stay indoors. Okay, that's all for now.

Thanks for your help. Hope you enjoy the rest of the fire. Nighty-night!" the Doctor waved goodbye..

"Good night, Monsieur, Mademoiselle," Reinette said before she walked away from the fireplace.

After the Doctor was standing, he helped me up, ensuring I was steady.

"You said this was the fifty-first century," Mickey spoke slowly, trying to understand what was happening.

"I also said this ship was generating enough power to punch a hole in the universe. I think we just found the hole. Must be a spatio-temporal hyperlink," the Doctor said.

"What's that?" Mickey asked.

"He doesn't know so he made it," Rose told Mickey with a teasing smile.

"It sounds better than a magic door," the Doctor admitted.

"And on the other side of that magic door is France in 1727?" Rose asked and the Doctor nodded.

As he threw off his jacket, he explained, "Well, she was speaking French. Right period French, too."

"She was speaking English, I heard her!" Mickey insisted but I shook my head.

"The TARDIS actually translates every language for you. You won't have to worry about not understanding any language, whether it be an Earth language or alien," I explained with a smile.

"Gotcha!" The Doctor called as he hit a lever on the fireplace. As he began to turn, he grabbed ahold of my arm, causing me to yelp, and pulled me close.

"Doctor! Victoria!" Rose called out.

Once the fireplace stopped moving, the Doctor let go of me and walked into the room. It was very large, especially for a little girl's room. It was dark, obviously night time, and as the Doctor and I looked out the window, we found it to be winter. Outside on the streets, we could hear horses neighing in the snow. Behind us, we heard a gasp, causing the Doctor and me to turn around.

"It's okay! Don't scream! It's us, it's the fireplace man and woman. Look," the Doctor spoke calmly as he walked over to Reinette, pulling me along. He pulled out his sonic and lit the candle next to her bed.

"We were talking, just a moment ago. We were in your fireplace," I spoke, causing Reinette to look at me and shake her head.

"Mademoiselle, that was weeks ago. It has been months!"

"Really?"

I followed the Doctor as he went over to the fireplace, listening closely to the sounds it produced when he tapped on it.

"Must be a loose connection. Need to get a man in," the Doctor muttered.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Reinette demanded, slightly scared.

The Doctor put on his glasses and looked closely at the clock. "Do you hear the ticking?" the Doctor asked quietly and I nodded. "But the clock is broken," the Doctor said and I stopped.

"Oh, that's creepy. Properly creepy," I spoke softly.

"You're scared of a broken clock?" Reinette asked, not quite understanding.

"Just a bit scared, yeah. Just a little tiny bit. 'Cause you see, if this clock's broken, and it's the only clock in the room-" the Doctor began.

"Then where is the noise coming from?" I finished.

The ticking noise got louder which was starting to scare Reinette. I walked over to her bed and sat down next to her and gripped her hands.

"'Cause you see that's not a clock. You can tell by the resonance. Too big. Six feet, I'd say. Size of a man," the Doctor rambled.

"What is it?" Reinette asked.

"Now, let's think. If you were a thing that ticks and you were hiding in someone's bedroom, the first thing you do: break the clock. No one notices the sound of one clock ticking, but two? You might start to wonder if you're really alone," the Doctor spoke quickly after having looked behind the curtain.

He walked over to the bed, pulling me off the bed as he crouched down. Together we looked under the bed, looking for the source of the noise.

"Reinette, I'm going to need you to stay where you are and to keep your hands and feet from going off the bed," the Doctor told her and he prepared to flash his sonic. When he did turn on his sonic, something lept towards us. The Doctor flinched backward, pulling me away from the bed with him.

"Stay exactly where you are," the Doctor hurriedly told Reinette as we both stood up.

He shifted his focus between the young girl on the bed and the creepy figure behind her. It only took him a moment before he truly focused on Reinette "Hold still, let me look..." the Doctor spoke, moving close to Reinette before grasping her head lightly. He stared deeply into her eyes, reading her mind to find what the droid was looking for. After coming across what he needed, he stood straight and glared at the figure. "You've been scanning her brain!" he frowned. "What, you've crossed two galaxies and thousands of years just to scan a child's brain? What could there be in a little girl's mind worth blowing a hole in the universe?"

"I don't understand, it wants me?" Reinette looked at me, then looked at the droid. "You want me?"

"Not yet," it spoke. "You are incomplete."

"What does that mean, incomplete?" I asked the droid.

The droid refused to answer me, only looking at Reinette. The Doctor pulled out his sonic and pointed it at the droid threateningly. "You can answer her, you can answer us. What do you mean, 'incomplete'?" the Doctor asked, causing the droid to pivot towards us.

Moving close to us, the robot extended its arm towards me. I leaned back as far as possible when a knife popped out of its hand close to my neck. I gave the droid a wary glance as I took tiny steps away from it.

"Mademoiselle, be careful!" Reinette called.

The Doctor grabbed my hand, pulling me back slightly, urging me away from the droid.

"Just a nightmare, Reinette, don't worry about it. Everyone has nightmares," he told Reinette as we walked faster towards the fireplace. As we got closer, the robot took a swipe at my neck. I jumped back quickly, my back hitting the wall.

"Even monsters from under the bed have nightmares, don't you, monster?" the Doctor asked, gripping my hand tightly as he felt around for the switch on the mantel.

The droid swiped at me once again, causing me to duck away from its incoming attack. Its knife got stuck in the mantel, capturing the bot for a moment.

"What do monsters have nightmares about?" Reinette asked while the Doctor hit the switch.

As we rotated away from Reinette, the Doctor responded with 'Me' and a laugh of sorts.

When we reached the other side, Mickey helped me away from the fireplace as the Doctor grabbed an ice gun and sprayed the droid.

"Are you okay?" he asked and I nodded.

"Thank you for asking," I told him with a smile as I fiddled with my fingers lightly.

"You know, if you ever need anything, I'll try my best to help. I may not be as helpful as the Doctor, but I can sure as hell try my best. I'm glad you're traveling with them. They need someone who will keep them in check," he told me and I laughed.

"Man, do I know it."

"Vie!" the Doctor called out to me. I turned to him, seeing that he was waiting for me to join him at the fireplace.

Placing a hand on Mickey's shoulder, I smiled and said, "Thank you, Mickey. I appreciate all your help."

I then jogged over to the Doctor and stood next to him. Once he was sure I was standing fine, the Doctor pulled the lever and the fireplace began moving once more.

"Man, that's so cool. Just like the movies," I laughed, feeling like I was in a Scooby-Doo movie.

The room was had changed from before. There was no longer a doll house but a harp and a larger vanity.

"Reinette... we're here to make sure you're okay," I called out as I ran a hand over the harp.

"Oh, hello!" the Doctor called, causing me to look up. In front of us was a beautiful woman, so beautiful that I couldn't help but stare with a smile.

"Um, we were just looking for Reinette. Uh, this is still her room, isn't it? We've been away, not sure how long," the Doctor explained, waiting for the woman to talk.

"Reinette! We're ready to go!" a voice called out to the woman.

"Go to the carriage, mother. I will join you in a moment," Reinette called back. We both grew grins, but mine growing more from realizing it was Reinette.

"It is customary, I think, to have an imaginary friend only during one's childhood. You are to be congratulated on your persistence," Reinette told us with a grin.

"You look amazing," I told her with a smile and she grinned at me.

"Well, goodness, have you grown," the Doctor told her as he took in her appearance.

"And you both do not appear to have aged a single day. That is tremendously impolite of you two," she spoke, stepping closer to us.

"Right... yes... sorry. Um... umm... umm.. listen, lovely to catch up, but er, better be off, eh? Don't want your mother finding you up here with a strange man and woman, do we" the Doctor stuttered, looking away from Reinette.

"Strange? How could you be a stranger to me? I have known you both since I was seven years old," she told us.

"Yeah, I suppose we have. We took the quick route," he said with a little laugh. Reinette walked closer to us, putting a hand on both our cheeks.

"Well, you seem to be flesh and blood, at any rate, but this is absurd. Reason tells me you cannot be real," she decided and I nodded while the Doctor shook his head.

"You never want to listen to reason."

"Mademoiselle! Your mother grows impatient," a voice echoed through the room.

"A moment," she called back.

"There are so many questions and so little time," she told us. She quickly pulled me closer where she kissed the corner of my mouth for a moment before doing the same to the Doctor.

"Mademoiselle Poisson!" the voice called out again.

Reinette smiled at us once more before rushing over to her vanity and grabbing her purse. With one last glance, Reinette ran out of the room as a servant walked in. "Poisson?" the Doctor called out, seeming startled by the news.

"Wait, you mean the Reinette Poisson?" I asked, looking at him with excitement.

"No... no, no, no, no, no way, Reinette Poisson?!" he asked, rushing up to the servant." Later Madame Etoiles? Later still mistress of Louis the Fifteenth, uncrowned Queen of France?" he said, moving back towards the fireplace. "Actress, artist, musician, dancer, courtesan? Fantastic gardener!" he exclaimed, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the fireplace.

"Who the hell are you?" the man cried while the Doctor and I shared a smile.

"I'm the Doctor. This is Victoria. And we just kissed Madame de Pompadour!" he exclaimed as he hit the lever on the fireplace. We both laughed as the fireplace turned, and once we reached the room, I pulled the Doctor into a quick hug.

"Madame de Pompadour just kissed me. Me! God, she is so beautiful," I exclaimed, thinking about the peck she gave me. The Doctor didn't say anything back but he smiled brightly at me. After a moment though, his smile faded as it was replaced with confusion as he looked around.

"Rose? Mickey?" he called out and I looked around to see nothing. Grabbing my hand, the Doctor pulled me down the hallway, grumbling about how his companions never listen to him, how they always run off.

"I haven't run off yet," I told him and he stopped.

"The key word in that statement is yet," he told me and I smiled.

"Maybe next time I might just run of-" I was interrupted by the neigh of a horse. Looking over, the Doctor and I came face to face with a beautiful white horse. "Well that's new," I said while reaching forward to stroke the horse's mane.

"Now isn't the time, Vie. We need to find Rose and Mickey," the Doctor said.

"Fine," I pouted slightly, not wanting to leave the horse. He shook his head with a small smile and pulled me away from the horse.

As we walked, the Doctor began telling me about his last regeneration. Over the past few months, the Doctor had begun telling me about his past regenerations, making sure to tell me about his adventures and companions. By far, my favorite to hear him talk about was his fifth self with his celery accessory.

"You blew up her job?" I asked incredulously.

"Mhm. It worked out it in the end though," he told me and I nodded. "Hold on a moment," he held out a finger towards me as he turned around. Behind us stood the white horse from earlier.

"Will you stop following us? We're not your parents," he said irritably, causing me to look over my shoulder. I grinned happily as I saw the white horse from earlier.

Seeing the grin on my face, the Doctor shook his head. "No, Vie," he said, causing me to pout.

However, as I looked down the hallway, I spotted a set of white french doors. "Doctor, look," I nudged.

We walked closer to the door with the horse trailing behind us. "Is this where you came from?" I asked, running my hand down its nose.

The Doctor pushed the doors open to reveal eighteenth-century France. We stepped into a grassy courtyard with lots of trees and a little pond. We moved deeper into the field when the Doctor and I noticed Reinette. We crouched behind a nearby row of pillars, one in which had a large flower pot on top. While we watched her walk with her friends, the Doctor and I shared a quick smile at seeing her happy. She was walking next to her friend, each holding a parasol when she looked in our direction. The Doctor yanked me down and out of view.

"She looks so happy," I looked at the Doctor with a smile.

"That she does," he nodded. He leaned around the pillar, checking to make sure it was safe before helping me up.

After I took his hand, we walked back into the ship to look for Rose and Mickey. It actually didn't take us very long, five minutes at most, to find the two. They were standing in front of a window, looking in on Reinette and the King of France.

"Blimey, look at this guy. Who does he think he is?" Mickey asked as we walked up to them.

"Le Roi de France," I injected, causing the two to look at me in surprise.

"That's the King?" Mickey asked and we nodded.

"What have you two been up to?" Rose injected, looking between us.

"Oh, this and that. Became the imaginary friend of a future French aristocrat... picked a fight with a clockwork man..." the Doctor trailed off.

"And we met a horse," I grinned, watching as confusion grew on their faces.

"What's horse doing on a spaceship?" Mickey asked.

"Mickey, what's pre-Revolutionary France doing on a spaceship? Get a little perspective," the Doctor scolded lightly, causing me to giggle.

"See these? They're all over the place. On every deck. Gateways to history. But not just any old history..." he began. "Her," I said along with him.

"Time window... deliberately arranged along the life of one particular woman. A spaceship from the fifty-first century stalking a woman from the eighteenth. Why?" he muttered.

"Who is she?" Rose asked, causing me to beam happily at her. "Jeanne-Reinette Poisson. The most beautiful, accomplished woman ever," I explained.

"So has she got plans on being the queen?" Rose asked.

"No, he's already got a Queen. She's got plans of being his mistress," the Doctor said, causing Mickey and Rose to share a glance.

"I see. Camilla," she said, causing the two to start laughing.

"I think this is the night they met. The night of the Yew Tree ball. In no time at flat, she'll get herself established as his official mistress, with her own rooms at the palace... even her own title - Madame de Pompadour," the Doctor explained as the King left the room. Reinette then walked over to the mirror that we were seeing through and began to touch up her hair and clothes.

"The queen must have loved her," Rose sarcastically spoke.

"Oh, she did. They get on very well," the Doctor, having either not noticed the sarcasm or chose to ignore it.

"The King's wife and the King's girlfriend?" Mickey asked incredulously.

"France, It's a world different world," I spoke softly, staring at Reinette. It was then that a ticking noise filled the air, the same one from the clockwork droid from earlier. On the other side of the window, Reinette noticed the sound as well, turning around in freight.

"How long have you been standing there?" she called out to the droid hiding in the shadows.

"Show yourself!" the demanded. The droid did as asked and began advancing on her.

The Doctor noticed the fire extinguisher in Mickey's hand and pushed on the window, allowing for us to enter the room. He raced forward, the gun in his hand, and sprayed the clockwork droid until it froze.

"Hello, Reinette. I'm so happy to see you," I told her with a smile.

"Fireplace woman! Fireplace man!" she said happily.

"What's it doing?" Mickey asked from behind Rose.

"Switching back on. It's melting the ice," he explained, listening to the whirring noises coming from the droid.

"And then what?" Rose asked, holding Mickey's hand.

"Then it kills everyone in the room," the Doctor told her just as the droid's arm flew out towards his neck. He jumped backward, barely avoid the knife that replaced its hand. "Focuses the mind, doesn't it? Who are you? Identify yourself," he questioned, having moved to stand by Reinette.

The droid refused to answer, only cocking its head slightly. "Order it to listen to me," the Doctor ordered Reinette softly.

"Why would it listen to me?" she asked.

"It listened to you all those years ago. Why not now?" I asked, watching as understanding flashed in her eyes.

Turning towards the clockwork droid, she announced, "You will answer any questions that are put to you."

Lowering its arm, the droid answered the Doctor. "I repair Droid Seven."

"So what happened to the ship, then? There was a lot of damage," the Doctor asked.

"Ion storm, eighty-two percent systems failure," the Droid replied.

"That ship hasn't moved in over a year. What's taken you so long?"

"We did not have the parts," the Droid answered which caused Mickey to laugh.

"Always comes down to that, doesn't it? The parts."

"What's happened to the crew, where are they?" the Doctor asked sternly.

"We did not have the parts," the Droid repeated.

"There should have been over fifty people on your ship. Where did they go?" the Doctor asked quickly, obviously not appreciating the Droid's answer.

"We did not have the parts."

"Fifty people don't just disappear! Where-" the Doctor started harshly before stopping himself as he began to understand. "Oh. You didn't have the parts, so you used the crew," he explained, causing my heart to drop.

The smell of meat cooking earlier filled my nose as Rose admitted to finding a beating heart hooked to machinery.

"Please stop," I whispered, thinking about the dead crew added to the ship. The Doctor looked down at me with concern, before looking back towards the droid, prepared to continue his investigation.

"But what are you doing here? You've opened up time windows, that takes colossal energy. Why come here, you could have gone to your repair yard. Instead, you come to eighteenth-century France? Why?" the Doctor questioned, walking a bit closer to the droid.

"One part is still required," the droid looked at Reinette as he spoke.

"Then why haven't you taken it yet?" I asked, looking away from Reinette.

"She is not complete."

"What... so, that's the plan then? Just keep opening up more and more time windows, scanning her brain, checking to see if she's 'done yet'?" the Doctor asked harshly.

"Why her?" Rose asked quietly. "I mean, you have all of history, and you chose her."

"We are the same," the droid responded, causing Reinette to stiffen. "We are not the same, we are in no sense the same!"

"We are the same."

"Get out of here! Get out of here this minute!" she demanded angrily.

"Reinette, no!" the Doctor called but was too late. The droid touched its wrist and teleported away.

Turning around quickly, the Doctor began instructing Rose and Mickey on what to do. After he was done, he grabbed my hand and pulled me to Reinette.

"Reinette, you're going to have to trust me. I need to find out what they're looking for, there's only one way I can do that. Won't hurt a bit," the Doctor explained as he placed his fingertips on her face.

I watched in awe as the Doctor read her mind and searched her memories.

"Oh, such a lonely childhood," Reinette muttered sadly.

"It'll pass, stay with me," he told her.

"Oh, Doctor. So lonely. So very, very alone," Reinette whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear, causing my heart to break a little.

"What do you mean, alone?You've never been alone in your life-" the Doctor stopped.

"When did you start calling me Doctor?" he asked, eyes wide open in fear and confusion.

"So lonely, but not anymore. You have them to take of you. You aren't so alone anymore," Reinette whispered as the Doctor released her head.

"How did you do that?" he asked in fear, but Reinette smiled. "A door, once opened, can be stepped through in either direction."

"Victoria," Reinette called out. I looked towards her as she held out her hand for me to take. "Both of you, dance with me," she smiled as I grabbed her hand.

"We can't. This is the night you dance with the King," the Doctor declined her offer.

"Then first, I shall make him jealous," she tried but he shook his head.

"We can't."

We stood in silence for a moment before Reinette spoke. "Doctor... Doctor who? It's more than just a secret, isn't it?"

"What did you see?" he asked, causing Reinette to look at me.

"If you won't dance with me, at least dance with Victoria," she stared. "I saw that there comes a time when every lonely boy must learn how to dance."

Turning towards me, she smiled and pulled me to her closest to prepare me for the dance.

* * *

"Why did you let me have those drinks?" I questioned with a slight slur.

The Doctor and I had danced for a while before I came across some sort of drink, alcoholic obviously, and now I'm a little tipsy. The Doctor shook his head as he helped me walk through the halls of the spaceship. When he let me go, the room started spinning a little bit, causing me to giggle.

He reached over and put his tie over my head, making me laugh harder. "Just... just keep doing what you're doing," he told me before grabbing my hand. He guided me to a huge room as he began singing off key. "I could've danced all night, I could've danced all night," he sang and I laughed.

"Oh, I love that song!" I giggled while trying to sing with him as we walked into a room housing Rose and Mickey.

"And still have begged for moooore... I could've spread my wings and done a thousand," I sang while the Doctor walked over towards Rose. "Have you met the French, they really know how to party," he said as he pointed towards me.

"Hi, Rosieeee," I sang, stumbling over towards her.

"Oh, look at what the cat dragged in. The Oncoming Storm," Rose huffed.

"Oh, you sound just like your mother," the Doctor said distastefully, causing me to gasp.

"Doctor, that's rude," I said pointing at him.

"What've you been doing? Where've you been?" Rose asked rather crossed.

"I invented the banana daiquiri a few centuries too early and Victoria had a little too much to drink," the Doctor explained.

"Did you, they've never seen a banana before. Never! How awful is that!" I cried as I thought of their confused faces.

"Always take a banana to a party, Rose. Bananas are GOOD," the Doctor said leaning over Rose.

The Doctor spun around to notice the droids from early and pointed at them. "Oh ho ho ho ho, brilliant. It's you! You're my favorite, you are, you are the best! Do you know why? 'Cause you're so THICK. You're Mister Thick Thick Thickity Thick Face from Thicktown, Thickania," he said, causing me to go into a string of laughter.

"So's your dad," I called out, enjoying the insult maybe too much. I looked over to where Mickey was lying down and wandered over. "Hi, Mickey. How are you doing?"

"Victoria, are you seriously drunk?" he asked incredulously. Shaking my head up and down, I pointed to the Doctor. "He let me have some drinks but I drank too many and now I feel all funny and laughy."

"Alright, you two, that's enough lying around," the Doctor called out as he released the two from their tables.

"Oh, Doctor. My head hurts," I called out as I leaned against Mickey.

"Maybe you shouldn't have had any of those drinks," the Doctor suggested as he put his hand in his pocket as he checked for medicine.

After finding some, he handed the pills to me and I swallowed them. "This is why I never drink."

The Doctor nodded while he got to work with the controls. Mickey and I stood by the wall as the two worked. Suddenly, the ticking noise of the droids filled the air. "Right... many things about this are not good," the Doctor spoke. "Message from one of your little friends? Anything interesting?"

"She is complete. It begins," the droid speaks before they all teleport away.

The Doctor quickly explained what happened before we made it back to the TARDIS and fireplace.

"Victoria, are you feeling better?" the Doctor asked and I nodded.

"Much better."

"Good, because I need you to talk to Reinette." He helped me find the right window before going to work on getting the audio link in the time window to connect to the ship.

I walked into the room and stood in the doorway, watching as Reinette looked out the window.

"Reinette, I need to talk to you, and we don't have much time," I announced, wincing as she jumped at the sound of my voice. "I've come to warn you that they'll be here in five years," I explained, taking a seat in front of the woman.

"Five years?"

"Sometime after your thirty-seventh birthday. We don't have an exact date, we just know they are coming. It's currently happening to us in a way, it's very hard to explain."

"Then be exact, and I will be attentive," Reinette says and I shake my head.

"There isn't enough time, Reinette."

"There are five years," she tries.

"I barely have five minutes with you," I say sadly.

"Then be concise."

"There's a ship, that has different parts of your life in it in different rooms," I explain slowly, making sure my wording sounded right.

"There is a vessel in your world... where the days of my life are pressed together like the chapters of a book so that he may step from one to the other without increase of age... while I, weary traveler... must always take the slower path?" Reinette asked and I smiled sadly.

"I'm afraid so."

"So, in five years these creatures will return. What can be done?" she questioned.

"The Doctor says to keep them talking. They're kind of programmed to respond to you now. You won't be able to stop them, but you might be able to delay them a bit," I explained. "Until?" she asked.

"Until the Doctor can get there."

"Are you coming?" she asked and I shook my head.

"I don't think so. It seems this meeting will be our last," I whispered, causing her to reach forward and squeeze my hand.

"But he is coming, then?"

"He promises," I tell her.

"But he cannot promise me in person?" she asked, causing me to look down a moment.

"When you need him the most, he will be there. That's how it will go," I told her apologetically.

It's the way it's always been. The monsters and the Doctor. It seems you cannot have the one without the other."

"It seems like it," I laughed. "I am so appreciative to have you in my life and to have met you, but you were never meant to meet me or the Doctor," I told her, watching as anger filled her expression. But I would never have it any other way," I explained, watching her anger leave her eyes at my statement.

"I would not have it any other way either," she admits when Mickey walked into the room.

"The time window when she's thirty-seven. We found it. Right under our noses," he explained, causing Reinette to move towards the tapestry that hid the ship.

"You shouldn't go in there. The Doctor will get mad," I pleaded as she walked onto the ship.

"So, this your world," she looked at me, causing me to nod.

In the distance, we could hear screaming and cries and chaos. "What was that?" Reinette asked, a tremor in her voice.

"The time window, the Doctor fixed an audio link," Mickey explained. "Those screams, that's my future?" she asked.

"I'm sorry," I said, laying my hand on her shoulder.

"Then I must take the slower path," she announced when her future self's voice filled the air. "That's my voice," she looked distraught.

"Victoria, we need to go. There's a problem and we need to get back," Mickey told me and I shook my head.

"Give me a moment with her," I pleaded, watching as he ran back towards the Doctor. I turned to look directly at her and asked, "Are you okay?"

"No. I'm very afraid. But you and I both know, don't we, Victoria? The Doctor is worth the monsters," she told me and I nodded. She moved to walk back to her world, but I grabbed her arm before she left.

"Goodbye, Reinette. It was a pleasure meeting you," I told her, pulling her into a hug.

"I'm glad I met you, Fireplace woman," she said with a smile. Pulling back, I kissed her on the cheek before releasing her.

"Goodbye, Victoria Jones," she smiled before walking through the tapestry, back to her world.

I stood still, watching the tapestry for a moment before rushing back to the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey.

When I got there, the Doctor was mounting Arthur. "Doctor, what are you doing?" I asked, causing him to look at me.

"The droids blocked the time window, and the only way through is with force."

"How will you get back?" I asked frantically and he shrugged.

"I'll figure it out."

Stepping back, I wished him good luck and watched as he rode through the time window. Rose, Mickey, and I sat in the room quietly, waiting for the Doctor to come back somehow.

After the first hour of waiting, I rested my head on the wall and closed my eyes in hopes of taking a nap.

* * *

"Madame de Pompadour!" was called out, startling me awake. In front of me stood the Doctor crouching in front of the fireplace. "Still want to see those stars?" he asked.

"More than anything," Reinette could be heard saying.

"Give me two minutes. Pack a bag!"

"Am I going somewhere?" Reinette asked.

"Go to your window and pick a star," the Doctor responded before standing up.

"Victoria!" he called, pulling me up and into a hug.

"How long was I gone?" he asked and I shrugged.

"Go ask, Rose," I suggested, and we ran into the room with the TARDIS. Upon seeing Rose, he pulled her into a hug.

"How long did you wait?" he asked. "Five and a half hours."

"Right, always wait five and a half hours," he spoke as he shook Mickey's hand. "Explain later. Into the TARDIS, be with you in a sec," he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the fireplace.

"Reinette? You there, Reinette?" he asked, crouching in front of the fireplace. He pulled the lever and soon we were back in France.

"Reinette?" I called out.

"Oh, hello," the Doctor said, standing in front of a window.

"You just missed her. She'll be in Paris by six," he answered softly.

"Oh," I whispered, feeling sadness wash over me at the knowledge that Reinette had died.

"Good Lord... she was right. She said you two never looked a day older," he said before turning his attention to the Doctor. "So many years since I saw you last, yet not a day of it on your face." The man reached into a drawer that he stood by and pulled out two letters.

"She spoke of you both many times," the man said, and I watched as the Doctor began to realize what had happened as well. He handed us both a letter before looking back outside. We could hear the sound of a horse neigh and the sound of a carriage being pulled away. "There she goes. Leaving Versailles for the last time. Only forty-three when she died," the man explained as I gripped the Doctor's hand tighter.

Together we walked to the window and watch the hearse vanish in the distance. "Too young... too young. Illness took her in the end. She always did work too hard," the man, whom I realized was King Louis XV, spoke. "What does she say?" he asked, looking at our letters. The Doctor silently put his letter in his jacket while gripped it tighter. "Of course. Quite right," King Louis said.

I nodded a farewell to the King, and together, the Doctor and I walked back to the TARDIS.

* * *

When we got back to the TARDIS, I immediately went to my room. I sat down on my bed and fiddled with the dress Reinette had given me. Taking a deep breath, I opened the letter she gave me.

'My Dear Victoria,

Although we said our goodbyes those years ago, I cannot help but hope that you will come back. Please hurry, my dear, and come back with the Doctor for I am growing weak. God speed, my Dear.'

I folded the letter with tears in my eyes and sat it on my bedside table. As I continued to fight my tears, I heard someone knock on my door. "Come in."

The Doctor walked in silently, closing the door as he entered, and sat down next to me on my bed. Not saying anything, the Doctor and I quietly cried at the thought of our lost friend.


	5. Rise of the Cyberman

**Thank you so much to everyone who has favorited, followed, and commented on my story! I really appreciate all the love and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **I want to say thanks to Maethoriel Artemis for checking over this chapter.**

 **NicoleR85, thank you for the lovely comment. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

The shaking in my room caused me to wake with a start. The violent rumbling caused me to fall out of my bed and I hit the floor hard.

Stumbling, I got off the floor and moved slowly to the door. Once I made it through the door, I slowly made my way to the console room. I had barely taken ten steps when the shaking stopped and the lights turned off, leaving me stranded in the hallway.

With the shaking done, I walked hurriedly to the console room. When I got to the room, I found that no one was there, just a dark console. I walked to the door and peeked out to see London. What I wasn't expecting to see was the zeppelin flying in the air.

I closed the door and walked to the wardrobe and quickly got dressed in jeans and a sweater. Once I finished getting ready, I made my way into the console room to see the Doctor sitting on the captain's seat and Mickey standing next to him.

"Doctor! Mickey!" I called out, hurrying over to them. The two in question turned quickly towards me in surprise.

"Victoria, are you okay?" the Doctor asked and I nodded.

"Where's Rose? What happened?" I asked, looking around.

"The Time Vortex is gone and the TARDIS is dead. We landed in an alternate universe, which is where Rose is. In this universe, Pete Tyler isn't dead, and Rose is trying to deal with it," the Doctor explained.

"The TARDIS is dead?" I asked in surprise and sadness. "How?"

"She fell out of our dimension into this dimension."

"Okay, so what happened right before I entered?" I asked, causing the Doctor to scowl lightly and Mickey to laugh.

"He got mad and kicked the console, hurting his foot," Mickey explained with a laugh, causing me to laugh lightly.

"So what happens now?" I asked worriedly, looking around the dark room.

"We're not meant to be here. The TARDIS draws its power off the universe, but it's the wrong universe. It's like diesel in a petrol engine," the Doctor explained with a frown, looking uncomfortable.

"But..." Mickey trailed. "I've seen it in comics. People are hopping from one alternate world to another, it's easy." The Doctor sent Mickey a withering look.

"Not in the real world," the Doctor paused for a moment. "Used to be easy. When the Time Lords kept their eye on everything, you could hop between realities, home in time for tea. Then they died, took it all with them. The walls of reality closed, the worlds were sealed. Everything became that bit less kind."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small glowing green light coming from the grating under the console. Kneeling down to see a closer look, I called out, "Doctor, come look at this."

"What's that?" he muttered as he leaned down next to me.

"What?" Mickey called out as he stood behind us.

"That there, is it a reflection?" the Doctor asked, mostly to himself.

"I think it's a light," I told him and he nodded.

"That's all we need!" he turned to me with a smile. I stood up and moved backward, allowing the Doctor to take the grate off. We've got power! Vie, Mickey, we've got power! Ha!" the Doctor called happily as he lowered himself under the console. "It's alive!" he called and I felt a swell of hope enter my heart.

"What is it?" Mickey asked curiously.

"It's nothing. It's tiny. One of those insignificant little power cells that no one ever bothers about, and it's clinging on to life. But with one little ounce of reality tucked away inside," the Doctor answered and I smile.

"So the TARDIS is still alive?" I asked and the Doctor nodded.

"Is there enough power to get us home?" Mickey asked.

"Not yet," the Doctor responded as he pulled the power cell out of the floor. He handed me the cell and he pulled himself out of the floor. Once he stood up, he took the cell back and stared at it. "I need to charge it up," he explained as he cupped the cell in both hands.

"We could go outside and latch it up to the national grid!" Mickey offered but the Doctor shook his head.

"Wrong sort of energy. It's gotta come from our universe."

"But we don't have anything," Mickey retorted.

"There's me," the Doctor said before blowing on the cell, causing it to glow brightly. "I just gave away ten years of my life. Worth every second!" the Doctor laughed a little. Mickey and I moved closer to stare at the cell with a smile. The power cell continuously glowed brightly before dimming.

"Is it supposed to do that?" I asked and the Doctor nodded.

"It's on a recharging cycle," he stated "It'll loop round, power back up and be ready to take us home in, oh, twenty-four hours?"

So, that gives us twenty-four hours in a parallel world?" Mickey questioned.

"Surely! As long as we keep our heads down. Easy. No problem," the Doctor told us. As he stood up, the Doctor tossed the power cell in the air and caught it. "Let's go and tell Rose," he said before heading to the door.

I walked side by side with the Doctor as we walked to where he had left Rose. Rose was sitting quietly on a bench, staring at her phone in her hand. I stood back by Mickey as the Doctor talked to Rose. I watched as a pained look crossed over Rose's face, most likely talking about her father and his life in this universe. I winced slightly as the Doctor reached forward, trying to grab Rose's phone.

"They're rich. They've got a house and cars, and everything they want," Rose stood up. "But they haven't got me. I've gotta see him," Rose told the Doctor but he shook his head.

"You can't."

"I just wanna see him," she told him.

"I can't let you!" he responded, causing Rose to glare at him, tears in her eyes.

"You just said twenty-four hours," she spoke, anger in her voice.

"You can't become their daughter, that's not the way it works! Mickey, Victoria, tell her," the Doctor said and I looked at Rose. I felt conflicted because I know that she shouldn't see her dad, but there also might not be anything wrong with getting to see him.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Mickey spoke before I could. "Twenty-four hours, yeah?"

"Where're you going?" the Doctor asked in surprise.

"Well, I can do what I want!" Mice told the Doctor as Rose began walking in the opposite direction.

"Come on, Mickey. Show me something cool," I told him, walking towards him.

"Victoria, what are you doing? Don't encourage this!" the Doctor called and I looked over at him.

"I don't see anything wrong with going with Mickey. If Rose can, so can Mickey," I said, watching the Doctor's pained face.

"Fine," was all he said before racing after her.

Turning to Mickey I smiled. "So, what do you have to see here?"

"My gran lives a few blocks away. She was blind, and the carpet on the stairs was coming up. She tripped on it, fell and died," Mickey explained.

"I'm sorry," I told him, feeling sad that I really didn't know much about Mickey.

"What about you? Is there anything here?" he asked and I shrugged.

"I was adopted when I was not even one. I grew up with a loving family and supportive friends. There's nothing that I could want here when I think about it," I explained and he nodded.

"You don't want to see if your real parents are here?" he asked and I shook my head.

"I'm sure there was a reason they left me on my dads' doorstep. I think that if I were to find out who my real parents are, that would put complications in my family that we don't need."

"Do you ever miss your dads? Have you asked the Doctor to take you to visit?" he asked and I shook my head.

"Yeah, I miss my dads, but I call them constantly. Although the Doctor knows who they are, I don't think he's ready to meet them, well _him_ , just yet."

As Mickey went to ask me another question, a soldier approached us as a group of soldiers walked next to us. "Are we alright to pass?" Mickey asked.

"Yeah. No bother. Curfew doesn't start 'til ten."

"There's curfew?" I asked and the soldier sent me an odd look.

"Course there is. Where've you been living, mate? Up there with the toffs?" he questioned, pointing up at the zeppelins in the air.

"I wish," Mickey muttered as the soldier walked away. We walked in silence for the rest of the way until we reached a run-down looking area. Mickey slowed down as we crossed the street and stopped in front of his gran's house.

I silently reached down and grabbed his hand in support. With his other hand, Mickey knocked on the door three times. "Who's that there?" a voice called from the other side of the door.

The door opened to show an older woman, obviously Mickey's gran. "Who is it? I know you're there. Shame on you, tricking an old lady. I've got nothing worth stealing," she said, pulling out a stick. "And don't think I'm gonna disappear! You're NOT gonna take ME," she said, holding the stick tightly.

"Hi," Mickey spoke, causing her to stop in her tracks.

"Is that you?" she spoke in a hushed tone. I smiled happily, watching their reunion.

"It's me, I came home," he said, releasing my hand to move closer to her, allowing her to stroke his face.

"Ricky?"

"It's Mickey," he told her and she shook her head.

"I know my own grandson's name. It's Ricky. Now, come here." Mickey then pulled his gran into a hug.

"Okay, I'm Ricky. Of course, I am. Ricky, that's me," Mickey smiled before being smacked in the shoulder.

"Ow!"

"You stupid boy. Where have you been?" she asked angrily.

"Stop hitting me!"

"It's been days and days! I keep hearing all these stories. People disappearing off the streets. There's nothing of it on the download," she said pointing to the earpiece in her ear. "But there are all these rumors, a-and whispers. I thought that God had disappeared you!"

"That carpet on the stairs, I told you to get it fixed, you're gonna fall and break your neck," his voice trembled as he looked at the carpet.

"Well, you get it fixed for me," she told him.

"I should' a done way back. I guess I'm just kinda useless," he said, causing my heart to clench painfully. It made me sad to hear Mickey say that about himself, knowing the Doctor's attention to Rose and not him helped make that image clearer.

"Now, I never said that," his gran said with a frown.

"I am, though. And I'm sorry, Gran. I'm so sorry," Mickey said with tears welling in his eyes.

"Don't talk like that. Do you know what you need? A nice sit-down and a cuppa tea. You got time?" she asked, causing Mickey to look at me.

"Oh, I brought someone for you to meet as well," he told her, wincing as she smacked him again.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" she said.

"Gran, this is Victoria," he said and I walked forward.

"It's nice to meet you," I said, causing her to smile.

"Come in, let's all sit down and have some tea," she said.

"For you, I've got all the time in the world," Mickey told her, causing her to laugh.

"You say that, but it's all talk. It's those new friends of yours. I don't trust them," she told us, causing us to frown.

"What friends are they?" he asked and his gran shook her head.

"Don't pretend you don't know. You've been seeing them. Mrs Chan told me. Driving about all helter-skelter, in that van," she told him as the sound of tires filled the air.

"What van's that, then?" I asked in confusion.

"You know full well! Don't play games with me," she said angrily as the van pulled up behind us. "Get inside!" she said as someone grabbed the back of our shirts and pulling us into the van.

"Mickey? Victoria?" we heard as the van drove off.

"Ricky, you were the one who told _us_ you don't contact your family 'cos it puts them in danger!" he said before turning towards us.

"And who is this?"

"Of course, I said that just testing," Mickey said, trying to play along with the man.

"I'm Victoria Jones," I told him.

"I saw them. I taped them! They went round Black Friars gathering up the homeless like a child-catcher. They must've taken four dozen," the man said to the driver.

She replied, "The vans were hired out to a company called 'International Electromatics'. But I did a protocol search... turns out that's a dummy company established by guess who?"

"I dunno, who?"

"Cybus Industries," both the driver and the man said.

"And now we got evidence," the man explained.

"Bad news is, they've arrested Thin Jimmy. So that just leaves you," he told us, causing Mickey to stiffen in confusion.

"Leave me what?" he asked, causing the man to smirk.

"The Number One. Top of the list. London's Most Wanted."

"Oh, okay," Mickey nodded before realizing what he said. "Say that again?"

I looked down at my hands as the man talked to Mickey as if he were someone else, Ricky going off of what his gran said earlier. After maybe ten minutes, we can to a stop. The man got out first and we followed behind him.

"There's a light on. There's someone inside the base."

"Mrs. Moore, we've got visitors," the man said, and we snuck around the side of the house.

"One, two, three, go!" the man called out and we entered the house. Inside the house, we came face to face with Ricky.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ricky asked.

"What are you doing here?" the man asked, looking between Mickey and Ricky.

"What am I doing here?" Ricky asked, moving closer to Mickey. "What am I doing there?" he said, causing the man and driver to point their guns at us, causing us to immediately put our hands up.

The three made Mickey strip to his underwear before tying him up in a chair.

"What do we do with the girl?" the man asked and Ricky told him to just simply tie me up. Soon enough, we were both tied up and the other three were scanning Mickey.

"He's clean. No bugs," the man called out.

"But this is off the scale. He's flesh and blood. How did that happen?" Ricky asked, staring at Mickey.

"Well, it could be that Cybus Industries have perfected the science of human cloning...? Or your father had a bike?" the driver suggested, causing Ricky to circle Mickey dangerously.

"Your name is Mickey, not Ricky?" Ricky asked and he nodded.

"Mickey. Dad was Jackson Smith. Used to work at the key cutters in Cliffton's Parade. Went to Spain, never came back," Mickey told Rickey.

"But that's MY dad. So, we're brothers?" Ricky asked, leaning closer to Mickey.

"Be fair, what else could it be?" the man asked.

"I don't know. But he doesn't just look like me, he is exactly the same. There's something else going on here, Jake."

"So, who are you lot?" Mickey asked.

"We - we are the Preachers. As in Gospel Truth. You see?" Ricky said, pointing to his ear. "No earplugs. While the rest of the world downloads from Cybus Industries, we - WE have got freedom. You're talking to London's Most Wanted. But target Number One is Lumic, and we ARE going to bring him down."

"From your kitchen?" I asked, causing Jake to smirk.

"Do you have a problem with it?" Ricky asked and I shook my head.

"No, it's a good kitchen."

A beep came from their laptop. "It's an upload from Gemini."

"Who is Gemini?" Mickey and I asked at the same time.

"The vans are back. They're moving out of Battersea. Looks like Gemini was right. Lumic's finally making a move."

"And we are right behind him. Pack up, we're leaving," Ricky said before untying us. We quickly found ourselves in the van once again. At some point, Ricky and Jake got out of the van, leaving us with the driver.

"I've identified the address. It belongs to Peter Tyler. The Vitex millionaire," causing both Mickey and I to look at her in surprise.

"Pete Tyler?" Mickey asked.

"He's listed as one of Lumic's henchmen. A traitor to the state," she told us, shocking us even more.

"But... but... we've gotta get in there."

Together, we got out of the van and ran towards the mansion in the direction Ricky and Jake went.

It took us a few minutes, but we quickly found Ricky who was being hugged by Rose.

"Rose!" Mickey called out. "That's not me. That's like... the other one."

"Oh, as if things weren't bad enough - there's two Mickey's!" the Doctor said and I glared at him.

"It's Ricky," Ricky told him.

"But there's more of them," Mickey said, talking about the cyberman. I stiffened in fear as the cyberman began to close in on us. The Doctor had told me a few stories about them but never had I imagined that I'd see one in person.

"We're surrounded," I whispered in slight fear as Ricky raised his gun.

"Put the guns down. Bullets won't stop them," the Doctor told him, but Jake ignored him and shot rounds at them.

"No! Stop shooting!" the Doctor said pushing the gun down. "We surrender! Hands up," the Doctor told us, and we all slowly put our hands up."There's no need to damage us, we're good stock. We volunteer for the upgrade program. Take us to be processed."

"You are rogue elements," the cyberman said.

"But we surrender."

"You are incompatible," the cyberman replied.

"But this is a surrender!" the Doctor cried.

"You will be deleted."

"But we're surrendering! Listen to me, we surrender!" I looked at the Doctor in fear.

"You are inferior. Man will be reborn as Cybermen but you will perish under maximum deletion," the Cyberman reached it's hand towards the Doctor.

"Oh, Doctor," I muttered, looking at him in fear of what would happen.

"Delete. Delete. Delete."


	6. Age of Steel

**Thank you all for reading my story so far! I hope you enjoy this chapter. I really appreciate all the favorites and follows, so shout out to everyone who has followed me so far. Reviews would help a lot, so let me know your thoughts.**

 **I want to thank Maethoriel Artemis for checking and reading through my story.**

 **NicoleR85, thank you for the wonderful comment! I always disliked how the Doctor treated Mickey. I hope you like this chapter!**

* * *

"Delete. Delete. Delete," filled the tense, frightened air.

I watched the Doctor with fear and anticipation, waiting for him to do something.

The Doctor raised his hand towards the Cybermen, the glowing power cell from the TARDIS pointed directly at the said enemy. The cell released a golden light that wrapped around the Cybermen, causing them to disintegrate. I stared at the ashes in surprise, as well as the little cell in the Doctor's hand.

"What the hell was that? Rickey asked from beside Rose, causing all of us to look towards him.

"We'll have that instead. Now, run!" the Doctor yelled, already beginning to run away from the pile of ashes. We all quickly began running, close behind him.

A horn sounded in the distance, showing the van that Mrs. Moore had been driving, pulling closer to us. "Everyone, in!" she called, pushing the door open.

Jake and Ricky were the first ones into the van with Mickey following close behind. After jumping in, Mickey held out his hand for me to grab, which I gladly accepted and helped me into the van. I stayed close to Mickey, feeling conflicted as the Doctor, Rose, and her father had yet to get into the car. Jake and Ricky huddled near the front where Mrs. Moore sat while Mickey and I were in the middle.

Rose's father, Pete, was the first of the three to enter the van, taking a seat on the other side of Mickey. Moments later, Rose and the Doctor climbed in and sat in the back, closing the door as they sat down.

"Finished chatting?! Never seen a slower getaway in my life!" Mrs. Moore called back, directed to the Doctor and Rose. At the statement, I couldn't help but quietly giggle behind my hand.

The Doctor sent me a look as we drove off and I smiled innocently back.

Ricky, once we were going at a relatively calm speed, moved into the passenger seat. From his seat, he stared harshly at the power cell which was grasped tightly in the Doctor's hand. With a frown, he asked, "What was the thing?"

"A little piece of technology from my home," the Doctor replied, fiddling with the cell.

"It stopped glowing. Has it run out?" Mickey asked, causing the Doctor to put it in his pocket.

"It's on a revitalizing loop. It'll charge back up in about four hours," he explained.

"Right, so now we don't have a weapon," Rickey commented and I nodded slightly.

"Yeah, we've got weapons. Might not be one of those metal things, but they're good enough for men like him," Jake said looking over at Pete.

"Leave him alone! What's he done wrong?" Rose asked loudly, her voice going up an octave, making me cringe and put my head in my hands.

"Oh, you know, just laid a trap that's wiped out the Government. And left Lumic in charge," Jake replied angrily and I glared at them, having become irritated with their loud bickering in the small van.

"If your going to argue, be quieter, would you. Look, Rose, this isn't the same Pete from our universe, he's done different things. Jake, Ricky, maybe check your facts a little more before blaming someone for something like this," I grit out, looking at the three of them with a glare, which they all returned.

"She's right, though. Why would I leave my wife in there if this were my plan?" Pete asked angrily.

"Maybe your plan just went wrong. Still gives us the right to execute you," Rickey said, pointing at the man, causing the Doctor's head to snap towards him.

"Talk about executions, you'll make ME your enemy. And take some really good advice, you don't wanna do that," he told them harshly.

"All the same, we have evidence that says Pete Tyler's been working for Lumic since 20.5," Ricky announced and I felt my heart sink as I watched Rose who was looking at Pete.

"Is it true?" Pete began to shift uncomfortably.

"Tell 'em, Mrs. M," Rickey demanded.

"We've got a government mole who feeds us information. Lumic's private files, his South American operations... the lot. Secret broadcasts twice a week," she explained.

"Broadcasts from Gemini?" Pete asked, causing Jake and Ricky to share a look.

"And how do you know about that?"

"I'm Gemini. That's ME!" Pete stressed, but the two didn't seem impressed.

"Encrypted wavelength six-five-seven using binary nine. That's the only reason I was working for Lumic. To get information. I thought I was broadcasting to the Security Services, and what do I get? Scooby-Doo and his gang. They've even got the van!" Pete exclaimed and I shook my head.

"Wait, but the Preachers said they knew what they were doing. Ricky even said he was London's Most Wanted," Mickey said and I nodded, feeling confused.

"Yeah, that's not exactly what I..." Ricky trailed off, causing Mickey and I to share a look.

"Not exactly what?" I asked harshly.

"I'm London's Most Wanted for... parking tickets," he responded sheepishly. I let out a groan and leaned my head back against the van's wall.

Peaking open one eye, I caught the Doctor's eye and he smiled a little towards me, causing me to smile lightly.

"Great," Pete commented sarcastically.

"They were deliberate! I was fighting the system! Park anywhere, that's me," Ricky said, his voice rising in his defense.

"Good policy. I do much the same. I'm the Doctor, by the way, if anyone's interested..." the Doctor smirked, liking what he was doing.

"And I'm Rose! Hello," she said with a small wave.

I closed my eyes, blocking out the talking as I moved to rest my head on Mickey's shoulder. I took the time to think about the earpieces, thinking back to what Ricky had said earlier. It seemed that most people, almost everyone, had an earpiece, yet Ricky and Jake didn't and they said they were free.

I was pulled back into the conversation when the Doctor began talking about the Cybermen. "They're called Cybermen. And I'd take those ear-pods off if I were you." Pete looked at him before reaching up and taking the earpieces out.

"You never know... Lumic could be listening," he explained, taking his sonic out, disabling the devices in his hand. "But he's overreached himself. He's still just a businessman. He's assassinated the President. All we need to do is get to the City and inform the authorities. Because I promise you, this ends tonight."

After he finished talking, the van fell silent until Mrs. Moore stopped the van. Once we were all out of the van, we walked down a street when we came upon a stream of people marching robotically.

"What the hell?" Jake questioned at the same time Rose asked: "What's going on?"

"It's the ear-pods. Lumic's taking control," the Doctor explained.

"Can't we, you know, just take them off?" Rose asked, moving forward, reaching for a man's earpiece.

"Rose, no!" I called out, grabbing her wrist, stopping her from pulling it out.

"She's right. Human Race - for such an intelligent lot, you aren't half susceptible. Give anyone a chance to take control and you submit. Sometimes I think you like it. Easy life," the Doctor explained.

"Hey," Jake called out, causing the three of us to look in his direction.

Jake and Ricky had moved to look around the corner. We all moved in to see what they had seen to find a line of Cybermen walking down the street.

"Where are they all going?" Rose asked.

"I don't know. Lumic must have a base."

Pete spoke up, telling us that Lumic's base was in Battersea.

"Why is he doing it?" I asked and Pete turned to me.

"He's dying. This all started out as a way of life by keeping the brain alive. At any cost," he explained.

After speaking quietly to each other, Rose and the Doctor turned back towards the group when Ricky started with a plan as the Cyberman started heading our way.

"Okay, split up - Mrs. Moore, you look after that bloke. Jake, distract them, go right, I'll go left, we'll meet back at Bridge Street. Move," he called out before running off with Jake.

"I'm going with them," Mickey said as he gave Rose a quick kiss before running after the two boys.

The five of us quickly hid behind the trash bins as the cyberman walked past. I crouched next to the Doctor, gripping his arm as he had his sonic poised, ready for the Cybermen that were beginning to walk by.

When they stopped, the Doctor turned on his sonic, luring the Cybermen away. Once we were sure they were far enough away, the Doctor told us quietly to go, and we quickly ran in the opposite direction.

Once we got to Bridge Street, we waited for the arrival of Ricky, Mickey, and Jake.

"I ran past the river. You should've seen it, the whole City's on the watch. Hundreds of Cybermen all down the Thames," Jake explained as he approached us.

"Here he is!" Jake called happily, seeing either Mickey or Ricky running down the street. He comes to a stop and doesn't reply.

"Wait, which one are you?" Jake asked hesitantly.

"I'm sorry. The Cybermen. He couldn't..." Mickey trailed off, causing me to frown.

"Are you Ricky. ARE YOU RICKY!" Jake called out, and I looked down, feeling bad for Ricky.

"Micky, that's you isn't it?" Rose called out and Micky nodded.

I turned away from the scene, not liking the look Jake was giving Mickey. The Doctor moved towards me and put his arm around me as we allowed them the time to grieve briefly.

"Look, we can mourn him when London is safe. But now, we move on," the Doctor said, placing a

hand on my shoulder after moving away from me slightly.

Together, we all walked silently towards Battersea.

"The whole of London's been sealed off, and the entire population's been taken inside that place. To be 'converted'," the Doctor explained once we reached the bank which sat opposite of Battersea.

"We've gotta get in there and shut it down," Rose commented.

"How do we do that?" I asked and the Doctor looked towards me. "I'll think of something."

"You're just making it up as you go!" Mickey cried indignantly.

"Yup," the Doctor dragged out before smirking at me and Rose. "But I do it brilliantly."

I let out a laugh, nodding before we all met back up with Mrs. Moore and Jake.

"That's a schematic of the old factory. Look, cooling tunnels... underneath the plant... big enough to walk through," she explained as she pulled up said schematic on her computer.

"We go under there and up into the control center?" the Doctor questioned, making Mrs. Moore think about.

"There's another way in," Pete spoke up. "Through the front door. If they've taken Jackie for upgrading, that's how she'll get in..." he trailed off.

"We can't just stroll in," Jake said, having walked closer to us after standing a distance from Mickey.

"Or, we could with these," Mrs. Moore said, pulling out the disabled earpieces from her bag.

"Fake ear-pods. Dead. No signal. But put them on, the Cybermen would mistake you for one of the crowd," she suggested.

"Then that's my job," Pete said.

"You'd have to show NO emotion. None at all. ANYsign of emotion would give you away," the Doctor stressed, explaining exactly what Pete would have to do.

I watched with a frown, not feeling good as Rose approached Mrs. Moore.

"How many more of those do you have?"

"Just two sets," Mrs. Moore answered.

"Okay. If that's the best way of finding Jackie... I'm coming with you," Rose spoke after a moment and moved over to stand with Pete.

"Why does she matter to YOU?" Pete asked Rose who looked over to the Doctor and me.

"We haven't got time. Doctor, I'm going with him, and that's that," Rose told us and I stared at her, feeling nervous about what she was going to do.

"No stopping you, is there?" the Doctor shook his head.

"Nope," she responded, shaking her head.

"Tell you what... we can take the ear-pods at the same time. Give people their minds back. So they don't walk into that place like sheep," he said, tossing her a set of earpieces. "Jakey-boy?"

After giving Jake something to do, the Doctor turned to Mrs. Moore and me, holding out his arms to the two of us. "Mrs. Moore, Vie... would you care to accompany me into the cooling tunnels?"

"How could we resist?" I asked with a small smile as we both grabbed an arm.

"We attack on three sides - above - between - below. We get to the control center, we stop the conversion machines," the Doctor took off his glasses.

"What about me?" Mickey called out, causing the Doctor to stiffen. We all looked towards Mickey, and I looked down, feeling guilty.

I had hoped to make Mickey feel better by going with him earlier and I had already forgotten about.

"Mickey... why don't you... uh..." the Doctor stuttered. "I'm sorry," was all I could say, waiting for Mickey to say something back.

"What, stay out of trouble? Be the tin dog? No, those days are over. I'm going with Jake," he decided, taking charge.

"I don't need him, Idiot," Jake nearly growled at him.

"He's not an idiot," I whispered, knowing only the Doctor and Mrs. Moore would hear me while Mickey yelled the same thing at Jake.

"I'm offering help," he spoke much calmer. "Whatever," was all Jake said, obviously not caring, while walking away.

"Mickey," I called out at the same time as the Doctor, earning an eye roll from Rose and an odd look from Mrs. Moore and Mickey.

"Good luck. You got this," I offered with a guilty smile.

"Thanks, Victoria."

The Doctor also wished Mickey good luck who in turn thanked him before saying his goodbyes to Rose.

"Rose, I'll see you late.r"

"Yeah, you better," she responded.

"If we survive this, I'll see you back at the TARDIS," the Doctor then smiled at Mickey who then nodded before walking off towards where Jake went.

The Doctor then dropped our arms so he could go over and hug Rose goodbye. I turned looked over at Mickey to see him looking back towards Rose and the Doctor. I waved goodbye as the Doctor walked back over to me and Mrs. Moore.

Upon returning to us, Mrs. Moore led us to the entrance to the cooling tunnels. She opened the trap door and began climbing, the Doctor climbing down behind her and I behind him. Once he got down, he helped me off the ladder.

"It's freezing in here," Mrs. Moore muttered and I nodded. "Well, we are in the cooling tunnel," I smiled while the Doctor let out a little laugh.

"Is there any sign of a light switch?" he then asked, causing Mrs. Moore to pull out her backpack and start rummaging through it.

"Can't see a thing. But I've got these..." she trailed off as she pulled out a headlamp and handed it to the Doctor.

"A device for every occasion," she said, making the Doctor ooh at the light.

"Sorry, Victoria. I only have one more," she apologized.

"It's fine, I have the Doctor," I told her, gripping the Doctor's left hand in my right.

"Haven't got a hotdog in there, have you? I'm starving," the Doctor joked and I smiled.

"Of all the things to wish for! That's mechanically recovered meat!" Mrs. Moore smiled.

"I know. It's the Cyberman of food - but it's tasty," the Doctor said as she handed him a torch.

"Alright, let's see where we are," the Doctor turned on the torch and his headlamp.

Walking forward slightly with his torch on, his light fell on a Cybermen, over a hundred of them lining the wall. At the sight, I felt fear flash through my body, causing me to grasp the Doctor's hand a little tighter.

"Already converted, just paralyzed. Come on!" the Doctor explained, before walking deeper down the tunnel. I looked behind me to see Mrs. Moore hesitantly follow behind.

After a minute of walking, the Doctor stopped and tapped on the face of a Cyberman, waiting to see if it would do anything. "Let's go slowly. Keep an eye out for trip systems."

With a nod, Mrs. Moore followed and we walked slowly but surely in silence. After about five minutes, the Doctor finally spoke up.

"How did you get into this, then? Rattling along with the Preachers?"

"Oh, I used to be ordinary. Worked at Cybus Industries. '95. 'Til one day, I find something I'm not supposed to. A file on the mainframe. All I did was read it. Then suddenly, I've got men with guns knocking in the middle of the night. Life on the run. Then I found the Preachers. They needed a techy, so I... I just sat down and taught myself everything," she explained.

"Well, what about Mr. Moore?" I asked, looking back towards her.

"Well, he's not called 'Moore'. I got that from a book, 'Mrs. Moore'. It's safer not to use real names. But he thinks I'm dead. It was the only way to keep him safe. Him and the kids. What about you? Got any family, or..." she trailed off.

"Oh, who needs family when I've got Victoria. Plus, I've got the whole world on my shoulders. Go on then - what's your real name?" the Doctor said, squeezing my hand slightly.

"Angela Price," she told us. "You can't tell anyone."

"Our lips are sealed," I nodded when all of a sudden the hand of a Cyberman twitched slightly.

"Oh my god," I muttered in fear. "Doctor? Did that one just move?" Mrs. Moore asked but the Doctor put down that idea.

"It's just the torchlight. Keep going, come on," he told us and I scoffed just when one of them turned in front of the Doctor. The Doctor to tighten his grip on my hand as he yelled, "They're waking up.

Run!", before pulling me along.

We all ran as fast as we could and I all I could think about how close their hands where to us, how easily they could get me.

Soon enough, we did reach the end of the tunnel where the Doctor let go of my hand to get out his sonic.

"Come on, you can do," I whispered, just as he managed to get the door open.

"Get up!" Mrs. Moore called from behind me as the Doctor climbed.

Once I was able to, I grabbed ahold of the ladder and climbed, the Doctor grabbing my hand and pulling me out once I reached the top.

Once we were all out, Mrs. Moore slammed the door closed and the Doctor soniced it locked.

"Oh, good team, Mrs. Moore, Victoria," he told us while we nodded in agreement.

I stayed close to the Doctor as he followed Mrs. Moore through the building stealthily. The longer we moved, the more I felt we were going to get caught.

We continued on when a Cyberman found itself in front of us, causing us all to jump.

"You have not been upgraded," it state in its monotone voice.

"Yeah, well, upgrade this!" Mrs. Moore threw a piece of metal at the Cyberman. The stick stuck to the Cyberman's chest and began electrocuting it. It began jerking and twitching before crumbling to the ground, much to my horror and relief.

"What the hell was that?" the Doctor asked.

"Electromagnetic bomb. Takes out computers, I figured it might stop the cyber-suit," she explained and the Doctor nodded.

"You figured right. Now, let's have a look..." he muttered, pulling out his sonic and touching it to the Cybus symbol on its chest.

"Now, know your enemy, and the logo on the front. Lumic's turned them into a brand," he explained, pulling the logo off to get a closer look.

"Heart of steel," he started before reaching into the chest. "But look," he said, pulling out body tissue.

"That's human flesh," I whispered, knowing they could hear me.

"Close... its the central nervous system. Artificially grown then threaded throughout the suit so it responds like a living thing. Well, it is a living thing. Oh, but look..." he poked at a chip he found in the flesh.

"Emotional inhibitor. Stops them feeling anything," he explained and I shook my head.

"That's awful, not being able to feel," I said while Mrs. Moore questioned why.

"It's still got a human brain... imagine its reaction if it could see itself. Realise itself inside this thing. They'd go insane," he explained.

"So they cut out the one thing that makes them human?" she asked and he nodded.

"Because they have to."

"Why am I cold?" the Cyberman asked and I felt pity for the monster in front of me.

"Oh my god, it's alive. It can feel," Mrs. Moore breathes out in horror.

"We broke the inhibitor," he said before placing both hands on the face of the Cyberman. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Why so cold?"

"Can you remember your name?" he asked, and I felt tears start to well in my eyes.

"Sally. Sally Phelan."

"You're a woman," Mrs. Moore said in surprise.

"Where's Gareth?"

"Who's Gareth, Sally?" I asked, placing my hand on her cold shoulder.

"He can't see me. It's unlucky, the night before," she spoke, and I let out a shaky breath, a single tear falling down my face.

"You're getting married," Mrs. Moore realized.

"I'm cold. I'm cold."

"Sorry. You sleep now, Sally. Just go to sleep," he put his sonic to the inside of Sally's suit and turned it on. "Sally Phelan didn't die for nothing. 'Cos that's the key. The emotional inhibitor - if we could find the code behind it, the cancellation code, then feed it throughout the system into every Cyberman's head..." he trailed off as Mrs. Moore nodded.

"They'd know what they are." I finished for him softly, feeling terrible for the people that were taken.

"And what would happen?" she asked us, causing the Doctor's eyebrows to furrow slightly. I placed my hand on his shoulder as he explained.

"They'd probably die. But could we do that?" he asked and after a moments thought, I nodded.

"Is there a way to undo what's happened to them?" I asked quietly, looking at him. He looked deep in thought, before shaking his head.

"If we don't do anything, they'll kill everyone. At least this way we can let them be at peace," I whispered as he placed his hand on top of mine with a nod.

Mrs. Moore hummed in agreement with me, standing up. As she went to speak, the Doctor and I watched in horror as a Cyberman snapped her neck.

"No! No! You didn't have to kill her!" he cried and I nodded, tears falling from my eyes once again.

"Sensors detect a binary vascular system. You are an unknown upgrade. You will be taken for analysis," one of two Cyberman announced, walking up to us.

The Doctor stood up and offered me a hand. Once we were standing, we silently followed the Cyberman without a fight.

After what felt like forever, we were led into the control where Rose and Pete where.

"Victoria and I have been captured, but don't worry, Rose and Pete are still out there, they can rescue us," he spoke before noticing the Tylers. "Oh well, never mind."

"You okay?" he asked Rose who nodded.

"Yeah. But they got Jackie."

"We were too late. Lumic killed her," Pete explained.

In a loud voice, the Doctor called out, "Then where is he? The famous Mr. Lumic? Don't we get the chance to meet our Lord and Master?"

"He has been upgraded."

"So he's just like you?" the Doctor questioned.

"He is superior. The Lumic Unit has been designated Cyber Controller," the Cyberman responded as a set of sliding doors opened to reveal Mr. Lumic in an odd chair, connected with wires and tubes.

"This is The Age of Steel and I am its Creator," he spoke as moved deeper into the room.

As we watched Mr. Lumic, we heard screams echo throughout the building. "That's my friends at work. Good boys! Mr. Lumic, I think that's a vote for free will," the Doctor winked towards Mr. Lumic.

"I have factories waiting on seven continents. If the ear-pods have failed, the Cybermen will take humanity by force. London has fallen. So shall the world. I will bring peace to the world. Everlasting peace, and unity, and uniformity." he declared.

"And imagination? What about that? The one thing that led you here. Imagination - you're killing it, dead!" the Doctor exclaimed angrily.

"What is your name?" Mr. Lumic asked.

"The Doctor."

"A redundant title. Doctors need not exist. Cybermen never sicken," Mr. Lumic retorted.

"Yeah, but that's it! That's exactly the point! Oh, Lumic, you're a clever man... I'd call you a genius, except I'm in the room. But everything you've invented, you did to fight your sickness. And that's brilliant. That is SOhuman. But once you get rid of sickness and mortality, then what's there to strive for? Eh? The Cybermen won't advance. You'll just stop! You'll stay like this forever. A metal Earth with metal men and metal thoughts. Lacking the one thing that makes this planet so _alive._ People _._ Ordinary, stupid, brilliant people," the Doctor hurriedly explained.

"You are proud of your emotions," Mr. Lumic stated.

"Oh, yes," the Doctor proudly stated, causing me to smile ever so slightly.

"Then tell me, Doctor, have you known grief, and rage, and pain?"

"Yes. Yes, I have."

"And they hurt?"

"Oh, yes."

"I could set you free. Would you not want that? A life without pain?" Mr. Lumic offered, causing a look of disgust to cross the Doctor's face.

"You might as well kill me," he suggested, causing me to blanch slightly, not liking the thought of the Doctor dying.

"Then I take that option."

"It's not yours to take. You're a _cyber_ controller. You don't control me or anything with blood in its heart," he explained.

"You have no means of stopping me. I have an army. A species of my own," Lumic stated, causing the Doctor to facepalm.

"You just don't get it, do you? An army's NOTHING.'Cos those ordinary people - they're the key," he said looking at the security camera.

"The most ordinary person could change the world. Some ordinary man or woman. Some idiot. All it takes is for him to find, say, the right numbers. Say, the right codes. Say, for example, the code behind the emotional inhibitor. The code right in front of him. 'Cos even an idiot knows how to use computers these days. Knows how to get past firewalls and passwords... knows how to find something encrypted in the Lumic Family Database, under... what was it, Pete? Binary what?"

"Binary Nine."

"An _idiot_ could find that code. The cancellation code. And he'd keep on typing. Keep on fighting. Anything to save his friends..." the Doctor trailed off as I put a hand over my mouth, hiding the smile that was fighting to find itself on my face. Mickey Smith, saving the world, good for him.

"Your words are irrelevant," Mr. Lumic announced but I shook my head lightly.

"Talk too much, that's my problem. Lucky I got you that cheap tariff, Rose. For all our long chats. On your _phone_ ," he said, looking at the camera again, making a phone motion with his hand.

"You will be deleted."

"Yes, delete, control, hash, all those lovely buttons," the Doctor replied with a cheeky smile. "Then, of course, my particular favorite, _send_."

"And let's not forget how you seduced all those ordinary people in the first place," he continued as Rose's phone beeped, announcing she'd received a text.

"By making every bit of technology compatible with everything else," he trailed off as he wandered towards Rose, towards the computers.

"It's for you," she told him, tossing him her phone.

"Like this," he said before shoving Rose's phone into a port in the computer.

I watched in horror as all the Cybermen around us twitched, shook, clutched at their heads in pain as they fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry," I heard the Doctor say. I looked up and met his gaze before turning away.

"What have you done?" Mr. Lumic was furious, but he didn't care.

"I gave them back their souls. They can see what you've done, Lumic! And it's killing them!" he exclaimed, looking around at the miserable Cybermen.

"Come on," he grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the room with Pete and Rose following close behind. Behind, tiny explosions sounded as the feeling Cybermen cried in pain. We came to a door but found it blocked by a wailing Cyberman.

"There's no way out!" I cried, looking around us.

We turned and went in another direction, looking for an escape when Rose's phone went off.

"It's Mickey. He says 'head for the roof'," she told us, and we immediately rushed for the stairs. After finding a ladder that led to the roof, we all rushed up the ladder to see Mickey flying a zeppelin.

"Mickey, where'd you learn to fly that thing?" Rose asked in awe.

We all rushed into the center of the roof when a ladder fell from the zeppelin.

"You've got to be kidding. Rose, get up! Victoria, you're next!" the Doctor ordered, and we were quick to comply.

Once we were all on the ladder, Mickey guided the zeppelin away from the roof and Rose began cheering in celebration, perhaps a bit too soon. I looked down to see Mr. Lumic holding onto the bottom rung, almost knocking us off.

Quickly reaching into his pocket, the Doctor found his sonic and tossed it down to Pete. "Use it! Hold the button down! Press it against the rope - just do it!"

"This is for Jackie Tyler!" he yelled, doing as the Doctor said.

I watched with bated breath as Mr. Lumic climbed closer to Pete when the rope finally snapped.

"No!" he cried, falling into the flames of the explosions.

I let out a laugh as we climbed up the ladder and into the zeppelin. Once I was inside, I immediately sought after Mickey and pulled him into a hug.

"You were brilliant!"

"That's right, I was," he agreed, happiness seeping into his voice.

"Alright," the Doctor started. "Let's get back to the TARDIS."

* * *

I held the Doctor's left hand loosely as we walked into the dark TARDIS. He didn't let go of my hand until he crouched down to place the power cell back in place. As soon as the TARDIS sprung to life, I let out a cry of happiness and pulled the Doctor into a hug.

When she came back to life, everything felt right again in the wonderful world of time and space, and by the looks of it, the Doctor had the same sentiments.

"We only have five minutes to get out of here," he announced as he grabbed ahold of my hand. We walked to the door and the Doctor peeked his head out the door, calling "Rose?"

We walked out and over to the Tylers who seemed to be having an uncomfortable conversation.

"I've only got five minutes of power... we've gotta go," he trailed off.

"The Doctor could show you..." Rose suggested but Pete shook his head.

"Thank you, for everything."

"Dad," Rose began but Pete stiffened.

"Don't. Just, just don't," was all he said before walking off without another word.

I looked out of the corner of my eye and met the Doctor's glance, obviously feeling as uncomfortable as I did by the way he scratched his neck.

I felt a bit more comfortable when Mickey and Jake made their way towards us, the Doctor's pinstriped suit in hand. "Here it is! I found it. Not a crease."

With a childlike grin, the Doctor let go of my hand and grabbed his suit. "My suit! Good man! Now then, Jake - we've gotta run. But one more thing; Mrs. Moore. Her real name is Angela Price. She's got a husband out there. And children. Find them. Tell them how she died saving the world."

"Yeah, of course, I will," Jake nodded.

"Off we go, then!" he said, turning to me with a smile that I couldn't help match.

"Uh, the thing is, I'm staying," Mickey announced, and I felt sadness wash over me.

"You're doing what?" the Doctor asked with a blank look.

"You can't," Rose's voice trembled.

"It sort of balances out, 'cos this world lost its Ricky. But there's me. And there's work to be done with all those Cybermen still out there," he trailed off, and I couldn't help but smile just a little bit.

"But you can't stay," Rose repeated.

"Rose, my gran's here. She's still alive. My old gran - remember her?"

"Tell her... Tell her that I said hi, and that it was lovely to meet her," I requested and watched as Mickey nodded.

"Yeah."

"She needs me," he told her and Rose shook her head.

"What about me? What if I need you?" she pleaded but Mickey shook his head.

"Yeah, but Rose... you don't. It's just you and him, isn't it?" he asked, looking between Rose and the Doctor.

"What about Victoria?" Rose asked, begging him not to go.

"I'm glad I have her as a friend. But she's got the Doctor too," I couldn't help but nod, casting him a guilty look.

"Well- we'll come back. We can travel anywhere, come and see you, yeah?" Rose said, grasping at straws at this point.

"We can't. I told you, travel between parallel worlds is impossible. We only got here by accident. We- we fell through a crack in time. When we leave... I've got to close it. We can't ever return," he told Mickey, send him a look, making sure he really wanted to do this.

Holding out his hand towards the Doctor, he grasped his hand. "Doctor," he said before pulling me into a hug.

"Thanks for everything, Victoria."

"Thank you, Mickey."

Once we parted, the Doctor gave Mickey instructions on how to help with the Cyberman.

"And good luck. Mickey the Idiot," he said with a smile, gently slapping Mickey's cheek.

"Watch it!" he said with a laugh.

"Goodbye, Mickey," I waved and walked next to the Doctor into the TARDIS.

I walked around the console, pushing buttons the Doctor asked me to when Rose entered sobbing. I ran over to her and pulled her into a hug as the Doctor piloted us away.

* * *

I stayed in the TARDIS as the Doctor followed Rose out of the TARDIS into Jackie's flat. I sat on the captain's seat, swinging my feet, listening to the gentle hum of the TARDIS when the Doctor walked in without Rose.

Noticing my questioning look, he told me that he was leaving her with her mother to grieve. It only took five minutes for the Doctor to tell me to go to bed, saying that I deserved it after rudely waking me up earlier.

"Goodnight, Theta," I whispered, giving him a quick look.

"Goodnight, Vie."

Once I found myself dressed and ready for bed, I fell into bed and let sleep consume me.

When I woke up the next morning, after getting dressed, I noticed a message from my dad. He was requesting the two of us to visit him, and I felt myself getting giddy from seeing my father.

"Doctor!" I called, walking into the library where the Doctor was reading Les Misérables.

"How do you feel about seeing my father?"


	7. Learning the Truth

**Hello, everyone! Thank you all so much for the follows, favorites and reviews. I really appreciate all the love and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

 **NicoleR85 - I'm really glad you are liking my story. I hope you like this chapter :)**

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* * *

" _It'll be fun,_ " the Doctor mocked, his arms crossed as he watched Owen wrap a bandage around my upper shoulder.

I glared up at him, wincing slightly as I moved my arm around. "Seeing my dads is always fun."

"I'm glad you think so."

I looked past the Doctor to see both of my dads standing by the stairs, and I felt happiness overtake me. I hopped out of my seat and rushed over to them, pulling them both into a hug.

"Oh, I've missed you!" I smiled, kissing both of their checks.

"And we've missed you," Ianto said as they hugged me tighter.

We stayed like that for a good minute, letting the happy vibes fill the air. Once he let me go, dad walked over to the Doctor.

"Doctor."

"Jack."

They stared at each other for a minute before dad smiled and pulled the Doctor into a hug. The Doctor looked at me with a startled look, and I couldn't help but laugh at his face.

"So, I love getting to see my daughter, we always do, but why are you guys here?" dad asked, and I sent a look at the Doctor. "You did take us to the right day, right?" I asked, and the Doctor sent me a funny look.

"Why do you assume this has to do with me?" I crossed my arms and stared at him. "Which one of us is the one flying the time machine?"

"Alright, children, break it up," dad jokingly said, stepping between us.

"You sent us me a message asking us to visit, so here we are," I said, pulling out my phone and handing it to him, showing him the message.

"I sent that three months ago," he said, handing it back. I once again sent the Doctor a glare before apologizing to my dad.

Pulling me into a hug, he told me that it was okay.

"I did have something I wanted to talk to you about, but we can talk about that later. Let's go do something fun!"

* * *

"Now, this is fun!" I said, my eyes closed as I felt the sun on my skin. "I can agree with that," the Doctor said from beside me. Peeking one eye open, I saw the Doctor reading the rest of Les Miserables and my dad reading over some files from work.

"Man, it has been so long since we've been to the beach," I sighed, loving the smell of the salt water coming from the ocean.

"We should bring Rose next time," the Doctor suggested and I hummed in agreement. "I feel kind of bad. We're here on the beach while Rose is at home with Jackie grieving the loss of Mickey."

"I know you miss Mickey too. I was hoping seeing your dad would keep your mind off of Mickey," the Doctor admitted. "Thank you."

After that, we all fell into a comforting silence. I smiled sleepily, beginning to doze off as I listened to the sound of the waves roaring and the occasional shifting of paper coming from the Doctor and my dad.

This truly was nice, just getting to relax with the people I trust the most, excluding Ianto, and sift through my thoughts.

I never expected myself to get this close to the Doctor. Never in a million years, but here he is, confiding in me and being my best friend. He knew almost as well as my dads did, and that scared me a little. Never before have I let someone get this close to me that wasn't part of my Torchwood family and my dads. He seemed to always know how to make me smile or how to comfort me when I was sad. He knew lots of little things about me and that made me happy, knowing he cared.

Rose Tyler, the fantastic girl who you couldn't not be friends with. Even though things were rough in the beginning, she still became my friend and showed me the ropes when the Doctor couldn't. She was just brilliant, and I loved her for that.

Life with the Doctor seemed to get crazier the longer I stayed, and all it did was make me want to stay more. It was nice knowing that my dad supported my choice, but it seemed he knew more about my future than he was letting on. But, from the looks of it, it was going to be a good one with lots of ups and downs. And I couldn't wait.

"Vie?"

I groaned a little and opened my eyes to come nose to nose with the Doctor. "Yes?" I asked, feeling a bit of a blush creep onto my checks. I was fascinated by the freckles sprinkling the Doctor's face.

"I think it's time we get your dad back to his team," he explained softly, and I couldn't help but pout, not really wanting to leave yet.

"So soon?" I groaned and smiled as the Doctor let out a laugh. "Your dad still needs to talk to us, and I don't think a beach is an appropriate place for a serious conversation."

"I'm not leaving. Not yet, anyways," I said, crossing my arms, waiting for the Doctor's next move.

"You're coming with Jack and me into the TARDIS whether you like it or not," he threatened. I couldn't help but smirk as I felt confidence flash in me.

"I told you, I'm not leaving," I smirked, but it quickly flew off my face and the Doctor reached down, hooking his arms under my legs and back, and picked me up.

"Doctor!" I cried with laughter as my dad ran over to us. "Dad, help me! Make him let me go!"

"No can do, Sweetheart," he said and I laughed, throwing my head back as pure happiness flowed through my body.

* * *

"You're giving me a pocket watch?" I asked as my dad rummaged through the things in his office.

"Ianto and I were given it when we adopted you, but there wasn't much I could do with it if I didn't have the Doctor," he explained, making a noise of happiness as he found the watch.

He placed it in front of the Doctor and me, and just by looking at it I got an odd feeling. I looked over in surprise when the Doctor took a sharp breath while staring at the watch with wide, surprised eyes and a stiff body.

Laying a hand on his shoulder, I asked "Are you okay?" feeling generally worried by his silence.

"Why did you need the Doctor to give me the pocket watch?" I asked, feeling very confused and concerned.

A tense silence filled the air as I looked between the two men. "Doctor?"

"Do you remember what I said about Time Lords hiding their essence?" he whispered, and I couldn't help but look at him as if he were crazy.

"You're saying that I'm a Time Lady?" I asked incredulously and he nodded.

"But, wouldn't you have noticed?" I questioned and he shook his head. "Since whatever Time Lady is in the watch, I can't tell they are there. The only way I'd be able to know who it was is if you opened the watch."

"What will happen to me?"

"You'd become a part of the Time Lady. You'd still be there in her personality or actions," he explained quietly.

"Do I have to open it now, or can I have some time to talk to people and say goodbye?" I questioned as a tear fell down my face.

"Of course you can say goodbye to people. We'll have to explain to Rose too," the Doctor told me and I nodded.

"No matter what you do, you will always be my daughter. You will always be a Harkness-Jones," he told me, reaching and grasping my hand, and I couldn't help but burst into tears.

I felt two sets of arms wrap around my body, holding me tight as Dad stroked my hair.

"I don't want to go!"


	8. The Idiot's Lantern

**Hi, Everyone! I know, it's been almost a year since I've updated this story. To be honest, I really hadn't read or wrote fanfiction much this past school year, but now I'm back, and hopefully with good content. I don't own _Doctor Who_ , just Victoria, and her storyline. I would like to thank Maethoriel Artemis for checking my story and making sure it is good.**

 **I would definitely appreciate some favorites, follows, as well as reviews. I'd love it if you guys could help me get to 20 reviews by my next chapter. I honestly appreciate every single one of you who reads, reviews, and follows and likes, so I hope you all enjoy!**

 **EmilyShaeFire-** **Sorry it took so long to get back to writing, but I hope you enjoy this one. And if you like plot twists, get ready for this chapter.**

 **Rosealyn - Just wait to get your heartstrings punched again**

 **Nicoler85 - I really hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm extremely glad you've liked the others :)**

* * *

"I can't believe I'm getting to see Elvis. This is a dream come true," I beamed, grabbing the Doctor's arm and gently squeezing it. "Thank you," I murmured, watching as Rose walked out of the TARDIS.

"I was hoping this would make you feel a bit better about the whole situation," the Doctor explained while getting his blue moped ready.

I nodded slightly, growing slightly uncomfortable just at the thought.

Since I had learned that I was a Time Lady, life felt… different. I knew in my head that my time as Victoria Harkness Jones was coming to an end, yet my heart wasn't ready to give her up.

Just at the thought of leaving made my eyes water, and the Doctor quickly noticed. He silently pulled me into a hug, listening to Rose as she spoke from outside.

"Let's have a good time, okay?" he said, stroking my head in a comforting way.

I took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm good. Let's go see Elvis."

He reached into a box on the floor and pulled out a white helmet and handed it to me. "Let's blow this popsicle stand."

Shaking my head, I grabbed the helmet and climbed on behind him. "Wrong time period, Doctor."

"You goin' my way, Doll?" the Doctor, trying to sound like Elvis, asked Rose. With a smirk, she whipped out a pair of pink sunglasses and put them on.

"Is there any other way to go, Daddy-o?"

I couldn't help but laugh as she walked over to us, saying "Straight from the fridge, man."

"Hey, you speak the lingo!" the Doctor uttered happily as I tossed her a pink helmet.

"Yeah well... me, mum, Cliff Richard movies every Bank Holiday Monday"

I look at her apologetically as she lowered herself into the sidecar. After she was situated, the Doctor started the bike back up again and drove down the street.

"Where are we off to?" Rose yelled, trying to speak over the wind.

"Ed Sullivan TV Studios, Elvis did 'Hound Dog' on one of the shows, there were loads of complaints. Bit of luck, we'll just catch it," the Doctor called back.

"Isn't it in New York?" I blinked, looking around as I took in Rose's words.

The buildings lining the street were decorated with Union Flags with red post boxes out front.

"Digging the New York vibe!" Rose giggled, causing me to smile.

"This could be New York. I mean, it kind of looks New-" I cut the Doctor off before he could continue. "There is no way this is New York."

"What do you think the flags are for?" Rose questioned.

"Maybe some sort of celebration?" I offered and felt the Doctor shrug lightly.

After looking around for a moment, the Doctor pulled over and helped me and Rose off the moped. Together we walked down the street, chatting lightly when we saw a van pull up in front of a house.

Three men get out, one of them opening the van's doors while the other two carry a tv into the house.

The man that held open the door told the house owner "There you go, sir, all wired up for the great occasion."

"The great occasion? What do you mean?" the Doctor asked as we walked past.

With a look of confusion, the man answered "Where've you been living, out in the colonies? Coronation, of course."

"What coronation's that, then?" the Doctor questioned, causing me to look at him incredulously.

"The Queen's," Rose began. "Queen Elizabeth's Coronation."

I couldn't help but giggle quietly as a look of awe crossed the Doctor's face. "Oh! It's 1953?"

"Last time I looked. Time for a lovely bit of pomp and circumstance, what we do best," the man answered.

"Look at all the TV aerials... looks like everyone's got one. That's weird, my nan said tellies were so rare they all had to pile into one house," Rose explained and I nodded.

"Not round here, love. Magpie's Marvellous Tellies, only five quid a box," the man replied. I shook my head slightly in disbelief, there was no way that they could be so cheap.

"Oh but this is a brilliant year! Classic! Technicolour, Everest climbed, everything off the ration-" the Doctor quickly changed accents. "The Nation throwing off the shadows of war and looking forward to a happier, brighter future!"

Rose and I couldn't help but burst into laughter, but almost as soon as we started laughing, a scream was heard.

"Someone help me, please! Ted!"

The Doctor reached for my hand and quickly pulled me towards the yelling with Rose right behind me.

"Leave him alone, it's my husband!" a woman pleaded as two men pushed a man with a blanket over his head into a car.

"What's going on?"

"Oi, what are you doing?" A voice called out from behind us. I turned away from the Doctor and was greeted by a teen boy, probably sixteen years old.

"Who did they take, do you know?" Rose asked the boy.

"Must have been Mr. Gallagher," he told us as the van drove off, leaving the woman distraught.

"It's happening all over the place. They're turning into monsters…" he explained.

"Tommy, don't you dare say another word!" A deep, angry voice called out. "Get. Inside. Now."

Tommy quickly said goodbye, and rushes over to his house where it looked like his father was standing.

"Well, all aboard," the Doctor called out and I hopped onto the back of the moped as Rose slid into the seat.

"Yeehaw!" I laughed as the Doctor and Rose shook their heads. "Wrong decade, Vie."

"Well too bad," I laughed as the Doctor drove us down the road.

"Keep your eyes out for that black car." The Doctor said as we continued driving. After a few minutes of driving, we came to a turn. After turning down the road we came to a giant metal gate with a market stand in front of it. The Doctor stopped in front of the market, and we inspected the area quickly.

"Of course we lost them," the Doctor muttered, and I patted his arm comfortably as Rose mocked his driving, which was not surprisingly terrible.

The Doctor, however, wasn't paying attention. "Men in black? Vanishing police cars? This is Churchill's England, not Stalin's Russia!"

"Monsters, that boy said..." Rose trailed off and I suddenly got an idea. Quickly turning around and pointing at her, I gave my idea. "The Neighbors. I bet they know something," I suggested, looking over at Rose who shook her head in agreement.

"That's what I like about you two, you take the domestic approach," he grinned as we all got back onto the moped

"Thank you," Rose grinned as I gently slapped him in the shoulder. "I believe that was an insult, not a compliment."

The Doctor never responded all he did was grin slightly and begin driving back down the road to where we started.

It didn't take long for us to get back to where we were before, and we decided that being overly nice was a great idea.

The three of us walked up to the door, me being in the middle with Rose on my left and the Doctor on my right. Rose leaned forward and pushed the doorbell.

"Are we sure this is the right way to do this?" I questioned, causing the Doctor to snicker.

"Now you get why I never do the domestic approach. It never -" he explained just as we heard the doorknob begin to jangle and clang.

The door swept open to reveal the older man that was calling for the teenage boy earlier. The three of us put the biggest smiles possible on our faces and in unison greeted the man.

"Who are you?" he grumbled, looking at us all suspiciously.

"Let's see then, judging by the look of you - family man, nice house, decent wage, fought in the war - therefore, we represent Queen and country!" the Doctor exclaimed, reaching into his pocket only to pull it out holding his psychic paper. "Just doing a little check of Her Majesty's forthcoming subjects for the great day. Don't mind if we come in? Nah, didn't think you did, thank you!"

I couldn't help but snicker at the Doctor. Sometimes he made it hard to believe that he didn't like the domestic approach. He enjoyed himself just a little too much sometimes.

As the Doctor began barreling past the man, he grabbed my hand and pulled me along with him. I looked over my shoulder and Rose was behind us with a small smile.

As we walked into the living room, the Doctor continued to act as an inspector and looked around the room.

"Not bad, very nice! Very well kept! I'd like to congratulate you, Mrs... ?" the Doctor asked, looking over at the obviously nervous woman. "Connolly."

"Now then Rita, I can handle this. This gentleman's a proper representative!" her husband explained harshly. I let go of the Doctor's hand and moved closer to Rose, not feeling too comfortable near Rita's husband.

As sad as it was, I had to remind myself that this is how men acted towards women in the 1950s. I was lucky to have a loving family that was able to provide for me and able to make me feel comfortable. Just by adopting me, I was given such a happy life.

The Doctor, however, made me just as happy as being with my family at Torchwood. I grew so close to him, I'd do anything to make sure that he was happy and if that meant becoming someone I wasn't before, I'd open the watch my father gave me just so I could know he was happy.

"Look, Mr. Connolly, you should probably get to work," the Doctor spoke, bringing me out of my thoughts. I looked forward to see the Doctor handing the man a large strand of Union flags.

"Ah, yes, of course. Yes, sir." He took the flags and began hanging them up, much to his chagrin. He seemed no less happy to do this as he did before.

"You'll be proud of us, sir! We'll have Union Jacks left, right and center!" he told us, and I saw Rose smirk at his comment.

She stood up and walked over towards him, standing next to him. "'Scuse me, Mr. Connolly, hang on a minute! Union Jacks?"

"Yes, that's right, ain't it?" he questioned and she shook her head. "That's the Union Flag. It's the Union Jack only when it's flown at sea."

"I... I'm sorry, Ma'am." he apologized, fear obvious in his voice.

"Well, don't get it wrong again, there's a good man," she smiled widely, obviously enjoying herself.

After not responding quick enough for her, she exclaimed: "Now get to it!"

As he got to work, the Doctor and Rose sat down on the couch next to me, the Doctor grabbing my hand in the process.

"Union Flag?" the Doctor quietly asked.

"Mum went out with a sailor once," she explained, and immediately the Doctor nodded his head.

"Oooooh, I bet she did."

"Anyways, I'm the Doctor, this is Victoria, and this is Rose," he introduced, pointing towards us respectively. "And you are?"

I looked over at the teenager we met earlier who told us his name was Tommy.

"Well, sit yourselves down," the Doctor said, moving the chairs to point towards the televisions.

"Have a look at this. I love telly, don't you?" he asked Tommy, who nodded excitedly.

"Yeah, I think it's brilliant!"

We then sat in silence, watching the program on the tv, the Doctor occasionally calling out to Mr. Connolly to check his progress.

"So, both of you, what's wrong?" he questioned, and the son and mother looked surprised.

"Did you say you were a Doctor?" Rita asked the Doctor, who nodded.

"Can you help her. Can you please help her?" she begged, catching her husband's attention.

"Now then Rita, I don't think the gentleman needs to know-" he tried, but the Doctor wouldn't let him end the conversation.

"No, the gentleman does," the Doctor insisted.

"Rita, Mrs. Connolly, please," I began, moving out of my seat to hold her shoulder. "Please tell us what's the matter." Rose then rushed over as Rita began crying even more.

"Hold on a minute! Queen and country are one thing, but this is my house!" Mr. Connolly yelled, chucking the flags onto the floor.

With my one free hand, I grasped Rose's tightly, not feeling well with how Mr. Connolly was reacting. I looked over at the Doctor, who was trying very hard to restrain himself.

"What the- what the hell am I doing? Now you listen here, Doctor! You may have fancy qualifications, but what goes on under my roof is my business!" the man yelled louder than before.

"All the people are being bundled into-"

"I AM TALKING!" Mr. Connolly shouted, and I couldn't help but squeeze Rose's hand a bit harder than necessary. Immediately, the Doctor moves closer to Mr. Connolly and shouts even louder, "And I'm not listening! Now you, Mr. Connolly, are staring into a deep, dark PIT of trouble if you don't let me help."

The Connolly family looked very shaken up, and I felt very nervous as Rose was keeping the two of us calm.

"So I'm ordering you - SIR! - to tell me what's going on!"

As Mr. Connolly tried thinking of something to say, a thud could be heard from upstairs.

"She won't stop," he whispered, fear obvious in his voice. He continued to look at the ceiling as the banging got louder and louder. "She never stops."

Surprisingly, it was Tommy who talked next.

"We started hearing stories, all around the place. People who've... changed. Families keeping it secret 'cause they were scared. The police started finding out. We don't know how, no one does. They just... turn up, come to the door and take 'em. Any time of the day or night."

"Can you please show us, Tommy?" I asked softly, and he nodded lightly.

Tommy got up slowly and led us up the stairs to a closed room. He slowly opened the door, peaking into the room.

"Gran... It's Tommy," he called out, opening the door to allow us to enter. "'S all right Gran, I've brought help."

Inside the room we see Tommy's gram standing by a window with the lights all off. Whatever I was expecting to see when he turned the lights on, what we actually did see wasn't it.

His gran's face was completely smooth, no features whatsoever.

The look of it, her face with no features, was off-putting, to say the least. Looking at her made me feel uneasy, so I, unfortunately, was stuck standing outside with Mr. Connolly who also didn't want to look.

We stood in awkward silence for what felt like forever, and it wasn't broken until a crash came from the floor below.

"It's them! They've come for her!" Rita cried, and I felt appalled by the fact that Mr. Connolly was happy about that.

I looked down the stairs to see policemen rushing into the house.

"Hurry up, Doctor!" I couldn't help but let some of my fear escape into my voice.

As the burly police officers rushed towards the room, I threw myself in front of the doorway. "There's got to be a good reason for wh-"

I tried buying the Doctor some time, but the police officers didn't care about me or what I had to say. One of them grasped my arm tightly, and I immediately could feel the blood to my wrist stop circulating. "Hey, let go of me!" I gasped, trying to pull my arm away. The police officer let go of me, shoving me away and into the room next door.

I could hear the Doctor speaking quickly, obviously trying to gain some time before they took Tommy's gran. What I wasn't expecting was to hear the Doctor to suddenly go quiet, then a thud, and then Rose to call out for him.

I rushed for the room as quickly as possible, barely avoiding the police officers who were guiding a figure, obviously Tommy's gram, down the stairs.

As I walked into the room, I saw Rose kneeling over the Doctor

"Come on, Doctor!" she muttered before she brought her arm back and slapped the Doctor in the face.

He immediately started awake, sitting up quickly as if he hadn't had just been knocked out. "Ah, hell of a right hook! Have to watch out for that!

He quickly got up off the floor and booked it out the room without a single word, leaving Rose and I alone.

"Come on, let's go!" Rose ushered as we rushed down the stairs after the Doctor. However, when we reached the living room, we noticed something peculiar about the television: red strands of electricity were flowing out of it.

"Vie! Rose! Come on, we're going to lose them!" I heard the Doctor call from outside the house. I felt slightly bad, just leaving the Doctor on his own, but I thought I could be of more use here to Rose.

Just as I turned back to look at the tv, I noticed that the strands of electricity had gone back inside, leaving it with the appearance that nothing had happened.

I rushed forward to look at the tv, and Rose did as well. We grabbed the tv box and turned it around and looked all over it in hopes of finding something useful.

"Vie, look at this," Rose prompted, pointing at a sticker on the back of the box. "Magpie Electricals," I whispered just as I felt a presence behind me.

Mr. Connolly had walked back into the family room and had finally noticed that we were still in his house and not with the Doctor.

"You two! Get out of my house!"

"We're going, we're done! Nice to meet you Tommy, Mrs Connolly. And as for you, Mr Connolly, only an idiot hangs the Union Flag upside-down. Shame on you!" Rose called over her shoulder, dragging me out of the house.

Once out of the house, we stood close together, looking out for the black cars from earlier.

"Okay, so we need to find 'Magpie Electricals'. That has to have some sort of clue for us to use," I told her and she nodded.

We linked arms and made our way downtown and towards the television shop.

It only took us around fifteen minutes to walk there, but when we got there, it was beginning to get late. As we walked in, a man, who I assumed was Magpie, told us he was closing and to leave.

"But we'd like to get a television," I explained and he shook his head.

"You'll just have to come back tomorrow. If you'll excuse me." He walked around the counter and towards the front door.

"But you'll be close tomorrow, won't ya?" Rose asked and he looked at her in confusion. "You know… because it's Coronation Day?"

"Ahh, yes. Well, I'll have to ask you to find somewhere else to watch it," he told us, moving closer to the door.

"Seems to me half of London's got a television, since you're practically giving them away," Rose questioned, curiosity ruling her voice.

"I have my reasons," Magpie defended.

"Well, what are those reasons?" I questioned, and he turned his defensive look on me.

"Hungry. Hungry!" a voice behind us spoke. "What is that?" we asked together, looking around.

""It's just a television. One of these modern programmes. Now, I really do think you should leave! Right now!" he pleaded.

"Not until you've answered my questions. How comes your televisions are so cheap?" Rose demanded, staring him in the eyes.

"It's my patriotic duty. Seems only right that as many folk as possible get to watch the coronation. We may be losing the Empire but we can still be proud! Twenty million people they reckon'll be watching! Imagine that! And twenty million people can't be wrong, eh? So why don't you get yourself back home and get up, bright and early, for the big day?" Magpie tried once again, but failed.

"We're not leaving until you've told us and shown us everything," I explained, crossing my arms.

"I need to close my shop."

"Mr Magpie, something's happening out there. Ordinary people are being struck down and changed, and the only new thing in the house is a television. Your television. What's going on?"

Magpie's persona faded as he finally accepted that we knew something. "I knew this would happen. I knew I'd be found out."

He walked over to the door and locked it behind us.

"All right, then, it's just you and the two of us... you gonna come clean, then? What's really in it for you?" I questioned, squinting my eyes slightly.

"For me? Some peace."

"Peace from what?"

"From her," he looked in the direction of the television, which they all had the picture of a woman on it.

"It's just a program. All it is is a woman in a program," I reasoned and he shook his head.

"What pretty girls you brought," the voice spoke, causing Rose and I to share not so good looks.

"Are you talking to us?"

"Yes - I'm talking to you, little one. Unseasonably chilly for the time of year, don't you think?"

"Who… What are you?" I barely got out.

"I'm the Wire, and I'm hungryyyyyyyy," the voice called out, just before tendrils of electricity came out and caught both of our faces.

I could tell that Rose was talking, but I wasn't paying attention. I could barely breath, and felt like I was suffocating. It was terrifying.

And then the suffocating stopped.

And then.

Nothing.

* * *

The next thing I know, I'm lying in the middle of the floor of Magpie's shop, breathing at full capacity.

"Rose," I spoke before truly looking around for her. She was lying behind me, and it seemed she was back to normal after what had just happened.

"Victoria," she replied, and she quickly pulled me into a hug.

"What happened?" I asked, looking around for clues as to what happened.

"I have absolutely no idea. We should find the Doctor. I bet he's worried sick."

Rose got up first and then helped me, and we walked together back to the main road in which we started.

As we stood there, surrounded by families reuniting, I looked for the Doctor.

It didn't take me very long to find him as he stood with Tommy to the side of the road talking.

When I finally caught his eye, his reaction surprised me. He had looked sad from afar, and a look of happiness lit up his face as he raced towards us.

"Doctor!" I called out with a smile. "I'm so glad we found you! What happened while we were go-" The Doctor cut off my words in the most surprising way imaginable.

He grabbed my face and kissed me.


	9. Announcement

Hello, everyone! This isn't an update, well, not really. When I first started this story, I was a freshman in high school. I'm now an incoming senior and feel that my writing has much improved. So, I have decided, for the betterment of this story, that I will revamp the first couple of chapters, specifically just the first two. I've just completed "New Earth" and am about to start on "Tooth and Claw" which should hopefully be finished by the end of this week. I'm hoping that the story will flow better and that more people will enjoy it and want to read it.

If anyone has any suggestions or comments on how I could make the story better or fix a flaw, please tell me, as I will be going through the 8 chapters already posted this summer as I work towards more chapters. It's taken me two years, but I only around five chapters left of this story before I move onto season three.

So I hope you all understand, and I appreciate all those who have read this story and have made me want to continue writing this. So, for those who have been with me since I began writing this, I suggest re-reading this story as a whole, as hopefully it makes more sense and the writing seems better.

I really appreciate you all, thank you.

-Alice :)


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